Thermobaric

[dekhay]

What's a thermobaric bomb?

[incitatus]

Its a developement of what used to be called a fuel-air bomb. Take a barrel of fuel (petrol will do) put a small amount of high explosive in the centre. High explosives do not produce flame, so when it goes off it spreads the petrol out in a cloud, mixing it with air. If you then set of a detonator in the centre of the cloud you get an extremely large explosion. The Yanks stumbled across this in time to use them in Vietnam, have had them on the back shelf for a while and finally found something to do with them in Afghanistan. They create an enormous pressure wave which will knock down trees and houses, and collapse or sterilise caves and cellars. They are also high on the list of weapons that should be considered for banning, but the case has not been discussed yet so they are "legal"

[Herodotus]

Thermo = heat Baric = pressure QED