Thermobaric Weapons Becoming More Common

Things that make you
go BOOM…

Thermobaric weapons are also known as “fuel-air explosives,” though their composition has become more complex in recent years. No longer confined to the bombs that were used to clear helicopter landing zones in Vietnam, or even the gargantuan 15,000-pound BLU-82 Commando Vault/”Daisy Cutter” [see Graphic | Flash] and 21,000-pound GBU-43B “MOAB” bombs, they’re now finding their way into portable rocket launchers like the SMAW, RPG, et. al. DID noted this very trend in our March 10, 2005 coverage of the LAW rocket’s return, and similar man-portable thermobaric rockets proved extremely effective during The Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Fortified buildings used as strongholds by Islamist paramilitary death squads were sometimes caved in with a single shot from a US Marine Corps SMAW-NE (Shoulder-Mounted Antitank Weapon, New Explosive).

Defense Tech has a link-filled article noting that hand-held thermobaric rockets can be found in Russian and Chinese arsenals these days, among others. The article also addresses some of the implications these weapons present for issues like vehicle protection design, body armor protection, etc.