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Hey Tritonal! Help me out. Can you explain what this weapon is trying to do?

'Thermobaric' Hellfire Ready For Use: The Hellfire air-to-ground missile, one of the most important weapons in the U.S. arsenal, can now be outfitted with a massively destructive new warhead, Director of Defense Research and Engineering Ron Sega said. Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missiles can now carry "thermobaric" explosives that can detonate chemicals that send out huge shock waves. The heat and pressure generated by thermobaric weapons can obliterate chemical and biological agents. (Defense Week)



Mc/I + P/A

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????

Think Fuel Air Explosive.



"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

The Idea being it gets so hot that it completely burns of chemical and biological weapons and makes an area clean. (I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>). It also seems to give those who are to close a minor burning sensation... but I think that feeling goes away very quickly.

1. Don't look conspicuous; it draws fire.
2. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

Edit: spelling


Edited by - stinger on Apr 07 2003 07:46 AM

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\"One of you is gonna fall and die, and I'm not cleaning it up\"

Another side effect is that in an enclosed area the detonation burns off all the available air, suffocating those not killed by the blast and resultant schrapnel.

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

I saw "The Rock" too !!!! lol just kidding... its awesome technology....think what that'll do for those Apache pilots and for RAH-66 pilots in the future (the army isn't my backup plan, HONEST) My commanding officer here at Det.002 was in charge of all weapons that went into afghanistan (him, a 3-star, and another 0-5).... he knows alllooootttt about ammo and was relating some stuff about our new cluster munitions (w/blu-108/5 subs) that were just tested in combat for the first time against an iraqi column... goooood stuff. yumm... cheers.

"TACAIR, we deliver, you eat dust"

Edited by - buzz2182 on Apr 07 2003 11:07 AM

Edited by - buzz2182 on Apr 07 2003 11:08 AM

A-10, the thermobaric was devised to combat ships for the navy with its blast-frag warhead. As it detonated the blast would yield incendiary pellets to ignite fuel&ammo and set fires. The Isralei's, which also use the weapon platform, needed a more effective round in taking out compounds which terrorists hide, they found the shaped charge wasn't getting the desired effect of area destruction.

Here are some links:
http://www.missilesandfirecontrol.com/our_products/antiarmor/HELLFIRE/product-HELLFIREII.html
https://mfcbastion.external.lmco.com/mfc/videolibrary/HELLFIRE_II-Blastfrag_01.mpg
https://mfcbastion.external.lmco.com/mfc/videolibrary/HELLFIRE_II-Blastfrag_02.mpg
http://www.missilesandfirecontrol.com/our_news/factsheets/factsheet-HF_II-BLAST_FRAG.pdf



Edited by - Tritonal on Apr 07 2003 12:20 PM

BTW FAE bombs go back to at least WWII in the form of coal dust bombs and propane. The Germans even had coaldust flack rounds!!

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>

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The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

A-10
Another thing, there is a new warhead called the Agent-defeat warhead. It gets to a temp of over 1000 degrees to vaporize any agents. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hti.htm
It is still in the theoretical stage and has not yet been tested. I personally would send a highly-experienced crew to combat those wepons; no sense in risking the spread of these toxic pathogens.

Here's the other side of the coin.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2919249.stm

All the way...

The US could do the exact thing that the Brits are thinking of doing with the "concrete" bombs. Our pilots drop them all the time although not with the guidance package.

"Life is tough....its even tougher when your stupid"

We have GPS guided concrete bombs too, and have used them in combat in the Balkans.

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

IIRC the DOD determined that chem weps degrade in free air and sunshine at a rate of 50% per hour.

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>

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The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

Well.....all except Tabun(VX). Nasty stuff there.

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

Not to be picky but:

Sarin (GB) evaporates about as fast as water

Tabun (GA) about 20 times slower then water

VX about 1500 times slower then water. Splashed liquid can persist for weeks or months.

Sarin and Tabun are the more toxic but VX is more persistent.
I heard they may have found MRL's loaded with Sarin and blister agents. GB and GA are harder to absorb into the skin. The Soviet (remember them?) doctrine was to use them in conjuction with a blister agent to hasten there absorbtion.
Hate knowing these things...

All the way...

My fault, i thought Tabun was VX.(It's been a while since i've had to worry about it).

The gel based VX agents can persist for months.

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

LOL, i see you made it to Waki Paki Joe Dog, the land that time forgot..

So were you in one of the Abn units, or were you a displaced para stuck in a leg unit?

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

No Sir... Airborne all the way
Don't tell anyone but I hated jumping...
I did spend 2 years in a Cobra battalion in the NG.

I registered on that site 2 days ago. Finally got "accepted" today. I just couldn't stay quiet any longer...
I think if we try we can send Rehman over the edge.

All the way...

Edited by - joedog on Apr 07 2003 9:04 PM

Ramen...I still can't tell if he's chicken or pork...Anybody up for a Cup o'Noodles?

A sucking chest wound is life's way of telling you to slow down...

He's a suicide bomber in the making.

Little cockroach.

Cobra's really kick ass. I had a really good seat one day when a pair of them did their thing. Anyway good to get to know ya, we needed more grunts here.

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

Edited by - M21 Sniper on Apr 08 2003 12:20 AM

I've gone and looked over waki paki twice..... I don't think I could stand to read that board to often. But if ignorance is bliss most of those guys are already with Allah.

1. Don't look conspicuous; it draws fire.
2. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

_________________
\"One of you is gonna fall and die, and I'm not cleaning it up\"

We that do it, do so for purely entertainment purposes.

There is something to be said for getting a radical Pakistani to issue a Fatwah calling for your death.

Makes an Infidel feel like he's doing something positive

"US Army Snipers- One shot, one kill"

Edited by - M21 Sniper on Apr 08 2003 11:09 AM