The Russian army is armed with one of the most powerful non-nuclear weapons in the world - a vacuum bomb. According to specialists from the Russian General Staff, the new bomb is comparable in its capabilities and effectiveness to nuclear weapons. At the same time, experts especially emphasize that this species does not pollute at all. environment. In addition, this bomb is quite cheap to produce and has high destructive properties. This domestic development does not violate any of the international treaties, the Ministry of Defense especially emphasizes.

Before this, the United States had the most powerful vacuum bomb in the world. Its tests were completed in 2003, at which time this superweapon was dubbed the “mother of all bombs.” Russian developers, without hesitation, did not look for other analogies and called their development “the father of all bombs.” At the same time, our aerial bomb is significantly superior to its American counterpart in all respects. The mass of explosive in the Russian bomb is less, but at the same time it turned out to be 4 times more powerful. The temperature at the epicenter of its explosion is 2 times higher, and the total affected area is almost 20 times larger than its American counterpart.

Volumetric explosion effect

The action of a vacuum bomb is based on the effect of a volumetric explosion. We encounter a similar phenomenon almost every day: for example, when we start our car, a micro-explosion of the fuel mixture occurs in the cylinders of the internal combustion engine. In a more sinister form, this manifests itself in underground explosions in coal mines when coal dust or methane explodes, such incidents have catastrophic consequences. Even a cloud of dust, powdered sugar or small sawdust can explode. The reason for this is that the flammable substance, which is in the form of a mixture, has a very large area of ​​​​contact with air (oxidizing agent), which provokes an explosion.

It was this effect that military engineers used. Technically, the bomb works quite simply. A demolition charge, most often non-contact, destroys the bomb body, after which fuel is sprayed into the air, which forms an aerosol cloud. As it forms, this cloud penetrates into shelters, trenches and other places inaccessible to traditional types of ammunition, the action of which is based on shock wave and fragmentation. Next, special warheads are fired from the bomb body, which ignite the cloud, and as the aerosol mixture burns, a zone of relative vacuum - low pressure - is created, into which air and all surrounding objects are then rapidly sucked in. As a result, even without creating a supersonic shock wave that occurs when nuclear warheads are detonated, this type of weapon is capable of very effectively hitting enemy infantry.

BOV - volumetric explosion ammunition is 5-8 times stronger than conventional explosives in terms of the force of its shock wave. In the USA, flammable mixtures were created based on napalm. After the use of such bombs, the soil at the explosion site began to resemble lunar soil, but there was no radioactive or chemical contamination of the area. In America, the following were tested and found suitable for use as explosives for chemical warfare agents: ethylene oxide, methane, propyl nitrate, propylene oxide, MAPP (a mixture of acetylene, methyl, propadiene and propane).

Until recently, Russia used the same traditional fillers for this type of bomb. However, now the composition of the explosive of the new Russian vacuum bomb is kept secret; there is information that it was created using nanotechnology. That is why the Russian bomb is several times larger than the American one. If we turn this comparison into numbers, we get the following. The mass of explosives in the US and Russian explosive devices is 8200 and 7100 kg. respectively, the TNT equivalent is 11 and 44 tons, the radius of guaranteed destruction is 140 and 300 meters, in addition, the temperature at the epicenter of the explosion of a Russian vacuum bomb is 2 times higher.

America was first

The United States was the first to use air defense weapons during Vietnam War back in the summer of 1969. Initially, these ammunition were used to clear the jungle, the effect of their use exceeded all expectations. The Iroquois helicopter could take on board up to 2-3 such bombs, which were located right in the cockpit. The explosion of just one bomb created an area in the jungle suitable for landing a helicopter. However, the Americans soon discovered other properties of this type of weapon and began to use it to combat leaky Viet Cong fortifications. The resulting cloud of atomized fuel, like gas, penetrated into dugouts, underground shelters, and indoors. When a given cloud is detonated, all structures into which the aerosol penetrated are literally flew into the air.

On August 6, 1982, during the Lebanese-Israeli war, Israel also tested similar weapons on humans. An Israeli Air Force plane dropped a bomb on an 8-story residential building; the explosion occurred in the immediate vicinity of the building at the level of 1-2 floors. As a result of the explosion, the building was completely destroyed, killing about 300 people, mostly not in the building, but close to the explosion site.

In August 1999, the Russian army used BOV during a counter-terrorist operation in Dagestan. A vacuum bomb was dropped on the Dagestan village of Tando, where a large number of Chechen militants had accumulated. As a result, several hundred militants were killed and the village was completely wiped off the face of the earth. In the following days, the militants, having noticed even a single Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in the sky over any populated area, fled from it in panic. Thus, vacuum ammunition has not only a powerful destructive effect, but also a strong psychological effect. The explosion of such ammunition is similar to a nuclear one, accompanied by a strong flash, everything around burns, and the ground melts. All this plays a big role in the ongoing military operations

New BOV format

The high-power aviation vacuum bomb (AVBPM), which has now been adopted by our army, has many times surpassed all similar ammunition available before. The bomb was tested on September 11, 2007. The AVBPM was dropped from a Tu-160 strategic bomber by parachute, reached the ground and successfully exploded. After this, a theoretical calculation of its destruction zones, based on the known TNT equivalent of the bomb, appeared in the open press:

170 m from the epicenter - complete destruction of unstrengthened structures and almost complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures.

300 m from the epicenter - almost complete destruction of unfortified structures (residential buildings). Fortified structures are partially destroyed.

440 m from the epicenter - partial destruction of unfortified structures.

1120 m from the epicenter - the shock wave breaks the glass.

2290 m from the epicenter - the shock wave is capable of knocking a person off his feet.

The West was very wary of Russian tests and the subsequent adoption of this bomb. The English newspaper The Daily Telegraph even dubbed these events “a gesture of militant disobedience addressed to the West” and “a new confirmation of the fact that the Russian army is restoring its position primarily in technological terms. Another English newspaper, The Guardian, suggested that this bomb is a response to the US decision to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Europe.

Deterrence factor

A number of experts believe that the AFBM has many shortcomings, but at the same time it may well act as another deterrent to possible aggression, along with conventional nuclear weapons. Experts call the weaknesses of BOVs that this type of weapon has only one damaging factor - a shock wave. This type of weapon does not have a fragmentation, cumulative effect on the target, in addition, for a volumetric explosion the presence of oxygen and free volume is necessary, this means that the bomb will not work in airless space, soil or water. In addition, current weather conditions have a great impact on this type of ammunition. So, in heavy rain or strong wind, a fuel-air cloud cannot form or dissipates very quickly, and fighting exclusively in good weather is not very practical.

Despite this, the damaging effect of vacuum bombs is so strong and terrifying for the enemy that this type of ammunition can undoubtedly act as a good deterrent, especially when fighting illegal gangs and terrorism.

MOSCOW, September 11 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Ten years ago, on September 11, 2007, in Russia for the first time they tested the “daddy of all bombs” - that’s how journalists gave the name to a new high-power aircraft vacuum munition. This bomb remains the most formidable non-nuclear aircraft weapon today. One such ammunition is capable of destroying all living things within a radius of 300 meters. This weapon has not yet been used in combat conditions, however, volumetric detonating projectiles operating on a similar principle have been successfully used by the Russian army for a long time. According to many military experts, our country remains a world leader in this area. Why "vacuum" or thermobaric ammunition is dangerous - in the RIA Novosti article.

Forty four tons

Thermobaric ammunition differs significantly in its destructive effect from, say, high-explosive ammunition. A volumetric detonating bomb, upon contact with a target, does not simply explode, but sprays an aerosol cloud of flammable substance, which, a split second later, is ignited by a special charge. As a result of the explosion, a fireball is formed, creating a high-pressure zone at the epicenter. Even in the absence of a supersonic shock wave, such an explosion effectively affects enemy personnel, freely penetrating into areas inaccessible to fragmentation ammunition. It “flows” into any fold of the terrain, behind any obstacle. It is almost impossible to hide from the explosion of a thermobaric bomb or shell.

Footage of the explosion of the “father of all bombs” at one of the training grounds of the 30th Central Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense has circulated throughout the world’s media. The ammunition was dropped on the training target by the Tu-160 strategic bomber, which is by far the longest-range aircraft of the Aerospace Forces. Little is known about the tactical and technical characteristics of the new bomb: the mass of the explosive is about seven tons, and the explosion power is approximately 44 tons in TNT equivalent. The weapon was assessed immediately after the tests by the top military leadership.

“The test results of the created aircraft munition showed that it is comparable in its effectiveness and capabilities to nuclear weapons,” the acting commander told reporters. Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Alexander Rukshin. “At the same time, I want to especially emphasize this, the effect of this bomb does not pollute the environment at all compared to nuclear weapons.

Combat use

According to Russian generals, a high impact area makes it possible to reduce the cost of ammunition by reducing the requirements for hit accuracy. However, as Army General Anatoly Kornukov said, for now only aircraft can be used as a means of delivering ammunition. There are no missiles capable of carrying a charge of comparable power yet. Nevertheless, in Russia there are other types of volumetric detonating weapons.

“Russia has a wide range of similar ammunition in service,” said RIA Novosti Chief Editor magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland" Viktor Murakhovsky. — From aerial bombs to small-sized weapons. By the latter I mean, for example, the Shmel rocket infantry flamethrower or TPG-7V rounds for the RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher. In addition, thermobaric ammunition is standard for the TOS-1 Buratino and TOS-1A Solntsepek heavy flamethrower systems. These weapons have been widely used in recent local conflicts. In particular, in Syria, the TOS-1A has shown high efficiency in destroying fortified terrorist positions.

According to the expert, volumetric detonating ammunition is ideal for destroying engineering structures: dugouts, bunkers, long-term firing points. At the same time, they demonstrate high destructive power in open areas. There are drone footage on the Internet showing the combat operation of the Solntsepek battery in Syria. Within half a minute, several installations literally littered the gorge through which ISIS militants ( terrorist organization, banned in Russia. — Approx. ed) drove caravans with weapons. However, the scope of use of such ammunition is quite wide and is not limited to the fight against irregular armed groups.

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationFire strike from "Solntsepek": heavy multiple launch rocket system in action

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

“Volume-detonating aerial bombs are intended mainly to strike targets of the enemy army in the tactical and operational-tactical depth of its combat formations,” explained Viktor Murakhovsky. — These are control points, communication centers, ballistic missile launch sites, and so on. This type of ammunition works well against unarmored targets. A couple of such bombs can completely destroy a military airfield - in open areas, the explosion additionally creates a strong thermal effect. Roughly speaking, everything that can burn in the affected area burns.

Viktor Murakhovsky emphasized that volumetric detonating ammunition also has disadvantages. In particular, these include indiscriminate action and dependence on adverse weather conditions. In strong winds, rain or snowfall, the aerosol cloud is sprayed much less. Accordingly, the effect of the explosion is much weaker.

What about them?

Thermobaric ammunition is also used in the West. The US Marine Corps, in particular, has 40 mm MGL drum grenade launchers with XM1060 thermobaric ammunition. In addition, during the Iraq War, the Marines actively used a volumetric detonating round for the SMAW anti-tank grenade launcher. According to Western press reports, with one shot from this weapon, a reconnaissance group of the American military managed to completely destroy a stone one-story building along with the enemy soldiers hiding inside.

“Many countries have experimented and are experimenting with thermobaric ammunition,” said Viktor Murakhovsky. “However, only our country has managed to achieve serious progress in this area. We have the widest range of thermobaric weapons. In addition, we are at the forefront of improving volumetric-detonating mixtures. This weapon is not absolute and universal. But a potential enemy will definitely keep it in mind and consider it as a serious threat to its soldiers.

The emergence of a fundamentally new type of weapon or military equipment often gives rise to a lot of rumors. And most of them are associated with an exaggerated assessment of the capabilities of the “miracle weapon.” This usually happens due to the tendency of journalists to sensationalize against the background of the paucity of information about the product.

The same situation arose with the new volumetric explosion ammunition. A sample of this weapon was successfully tested on September 11, 2007. The bomb dropped from the Tu-160 turned out to be the most powerful non-nuclear one. “Experts” from the media gave it the mysterious name “high-power aviation vacuum bomb.”

Operating principle

The incorrect term “vacuum” arose due to the short-term (hundredths of a second) “burnout” of oxygen. In reality, the pressure drop does not exceed 0.5 atmospheres, which is safe for humans. The resulting rarefaction zone is instantly filled with combustion products. And the damaging factor is not “vacuum suction”, but a shock wave.

The very principle of a volumetric explosion consists in the detonation of a flammable substance dispersed in a certain volume of air. The area of ​​contact with air of all aerosol particles is much larger than the substance in its usual form. And the air contains oxygen, an oxidizing agent necessary for an explosion. This “mixing” of a flammable substance with an oxidizer greatly increases the power of the explosion.

Thanks to this principle, the new weapon was called volumetric explosion ammunition (BOV).

Compared to an explosive such as TNT, BOV has 5-8 times more power. However, due to the low density of the sprayed substance, the explosion speed of the CWA is lower. For BOV it is 1500–2000 m/s versus 6950 m/s for TNT. Because of this, its ability to crush obstacles (blasting effect) is lower.

In everyday life, volumetric explosions occur in the form of accidents in enterprises. A high concentration of flammable dust or vapors in the air creates the preconditions for an explosion. Such completely peaceful substances include wood, coal, sugar dust or gasoline vapors.

The implementation of this idea for military purposes is as follows. A projectile or bomb delivers a flammable (explosive) substance to a target and sprays it there. After 100–150 ms, the aerosol cloud detonates. It is important that at this moment the explosive cloud fills the largest space, maintaining the required concentration.

The following flammable substances are used: ethylene or propylene oxide, metal powders, MAPP mixture. The latter includes methyl acetylene, allene (propadiene) and propane. Ethylene or propylene oxides are effective but poisonous and difficult to handle. For military purposes, it is easier to use easily evaporating gasoline with the addition of aluminum-magnesium powder.

Advantages of BOV:

• greater explosion power than that of a high explosive;
• the ability of an aerosol cloud to penetrate shelters;
• with a power comparable to tactical nuclear weapons, they do not lead to radioactive contamination.

Disadvantages include:

• instability of the aerosol cloud in adverse weather conditions;
• the presence of a single damaging factor - a shock wave;
• low effectiveness against fortifications;
• explosive mass limitation. For the required ammunition effectiveness, it must be at least 20 kg.

These features will not allow BOV to replace traditional ammunition.

Its use is advisable against enemy personnel in fortifications, natural shelters or urban conditions.

Thermobaric ammunition

Along with BOV, thermobaric ammunition (TBM) is widely known. With the same effect of oxidation of explosives in the air, the principle of operation of such ammunition differs from BOV.

Due to the detonation of the central explosive charge, the thermobaric mixture detonates. The resulting blast wave ensures rapid mixing with air and combustion of the thermobaric composition. TBB uses a mixture based on nitroesters and aluminum powder.

The solid version of the mixture is A-3 (65% hexogen, 5% wax and 30% aluminum powder).

Advantages of TBB over volumetric detonating:

• no restrictions on the mass of explosives. This made it possible to create fire weapons to arm individual military personnel;
• insensitivity to atmospheric phenomena.

Several types of weapons have been developed under the TBB. The most common ones are:

• rocket infantry flamethrower "Bumblebee";
• shots for RPG-7;
• grenades for an underbarrel grenade launcher.

At the same time, work continues on the creation of high-power thermobaric ammunition.

History of creation and application

The first attempt to use the volumetric explosion effect was the Black Fog project. In 1944, engineers of Nazi Germany intended to create a BOV in the interests of air defense. It was planned to form an aerosol cloud in the path of enemy aircraft. Its setting and detonation were to be carried out by Junkers Ju-88 aircraft. However, this would require many more machines than were to be destroyed. The project could not be implemented until the end of the war.

The idea of ​​a volumetric explosion was further developed in the USA. In the early 70s, the first generation BOV was developed - the 500-pound cluster bomb CBU-55. This ammunition was used from a multi-purpose helicopter.

The second generation BOVs were represented by the 500-pound BLU-95 and BLU-96 2000-pound caliber.

The latter was capable of causing serious damage to the ship within a radius of up to 130 m.

Such aerial bombs were used during the Vietnam War. With their help, American aviation solved the following problems:

• clearing places for helicopter landings;
• destroying the enemy in shelters;
• making passages in minefields.

Similar developments were carried out in the USSR. As a result, the ODAB-500P aerial bomb was created. In Afghanistan, it was an effective remedy against spooks hiding in the mountains. To reduce the dispersion of the aerosol cloud, they were used together with smoke bombs in a 3:1 ratio.

In 1999, a volumetric explosion bomb was used against Chechen militants who had taken refuge in the Dagestan village of Tando. In addition to heavy losses, the enemy suffered enormous psychological damage.

Our response to “partners”

In 2003, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) was tested in the United States. The power of its explosion was 11 tons of TNT. At that time, it had no equal in terms of non-nuclear ammunition. Thanks to this, she received the nickname “mother of all bombs” (MOAB - Mother Of All Bombs).

The bomb used BBH-6 - a mixture of TNT, hexogen and aluminum powder. It should be noted that the “mother of all bombs” turned out to be not a volumetric explosion, but a high-explosive one.

An “asymmetrical” response to the Americans was presented in 2007 in the form of a 7-ton thermobaric bomb.

The TNT equivalent of its power is four times higher than the American figure. Exact information about the new bomb is not available.

The estimated effect ranges from the complete destruction of fortifications within a radius of up to 100 m to the destruction of buildings at a distance of up to 450 m. Journalists rightly dubbed the Russian aerial bomb “the father of all bombs.”

Tactical and technical data of the most powerful aerial bombs

The table shows a fourfold superiority in power with a quarter less total weight.

Obviously, this could be achieved through the use of thermobaric explosives.

Conclusion

Volumetric explosion ammunition did not become a “miracle weapon.” They did not provide their owners with decisive superiority over the enemy. At the same time, their features made it possible to occupy a corresponding niche in military affairs.

BOWs are not capable of destroying multi-meter walls of a concrete bunker or rock. But they will strike everyone who took refuge there. BOVs are quite effective when it is necessary to make passages in minefields. They have been successfully used for clearing sites in wooded areas.
It is possible that in the future, warheads will successfully replace tactical nuclear weapons.

Video

Flour mills, sugar processing plants, carpentry shops, coal mines and the most powerful Russian non-nuclear bomb - what do they have in common? Volumetric explosion. It is thanks to him that they can all fly into the air. However, there is no need to go that far - a domestic gas explosion in an apartment is also from this series. The volumetric explosion is perhaps one of the first that humanity became acquainted with, and one of the last that humanity tamed.

The principle of a volumetric explosion is not at all complicated: it is necessary to create a mixture of fuel with atmospheric air and give a spark to this cloud. Moreover, the fuel consumption will be several times less than high explosives for an explosion of the same power: a volumetric explosion “takes” oxygen from the air, and the explosive “contains” it in its molecules.

Household bombs

Like many other types of weapons, volumetric detonating ammunition owes its birth to the shadowy German engineering genius. Looking for the most effective ways During the murder, German gunsmiths paid attention to coal dust explosions in mines and tried to simulate the conditions of an explosion in the open air. Coal dust was sprayed with a charge of gunpowder and then detonated. But the very strong walls of the mines favored the development of detonation, and in the open air it died out.

Volumetric detonating charges have also been used in the construction of heliports. Clearing the jungle to land just one Iroquois helicopter required from 10 to 26 hours of work by an engineering platoon, while often in battle everything was decided in the first 1-2 hours. The use of a conventional charge did not solve the problem - it felled trees, but also formed a huge crater. But a volumetric detonating aerial bomb (ODAB) does not form a crater, but simply scatters trees within a radius of 20-30 meters, creating an almost ideal landing site. For the first time, volumetric explosion bombs were used in Vietnam in the summer of 1969 specifically to clear the jungle. The effect exceeded all expectations. The Iroquois could carry 2-3 of these bombs right in the cockpit, and the explosion of one in any jungle would create a completely suitable landing site. Gradually, the technology was honed, eventually resulting in the most famous air bomb of the volumetric detonating type - the American BLU-82 Daisy Cutter “daisy mower”. And it was already used not only for helipads, dropping it on anything.

After the war, the developments went to the Allies, but at first they did not arouse interest. The Americans were the first to turn to them again, having encountered in the 1960s in Vietnam an extensive network of tunnels in which the Viet Cong were hiding. But the tunnels are almost the same as mines! True, the Americans did not bother with coal dust, but began to use the most common acetylene. This gas is remarkable for its wide concentration range within which detonation is possible. Acetylene from ordinary industrial cylinders was pumped into the tunnels and then a grenade was thrown. The effect, they say, was amazing.

We'll go a different way

The Americans equipped volumetric explosion bombs with ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, methane, propyl nitrate and MAPP (a mixture of methyl acetylene, propadiene and propane). Even then, it was established that when a bomb containing 10 gallons (32-33 l) of ethylene oxide was detonated, a cloud of air-fuel mixture with a radius of 7.5-8.5 m and a height of up to 3 m was formed. After 125 ms, the cloud was detonated by several detonators. The resulting shock wave had an excess pressure of 2.1 MPa along the front. For comparison: to create such pressure at a distance of 8 m from a TNT charge, about 200-250 kg of TNT is required. At a distance of 3-4 radii (22.5-34 m), the pressure in the shock wave quickly decreases and is already about 100 kPa. To destroy an aircraft by a shock wave, a pressure of 70−90 kPa is required. Consequently, such a bomb, when exploded, is capable of completely disabling a parked aircraft or helicopter within a radius of 30-40 m from the explosion site. This was written in specialized literature, which was also read in the USSR, where they also began experiments in this area.

The shock wave from a traditional explosive, such as TNT, has a steep front, rapid decay, and a subsequent flat discharge wave.

Soviet specialists initially tried to depict the German version with coal dust, but gradually switched to metal powders: aluminum, magnesium and their alloys. In experiments with aluminum, it was discovered that it does not give a special high-explosive effect, but it does give a remarkable incendiary effect.

Various oxides (ethylene and propylene oxide) were also used, but they were toxic and quite dangerous during storage due to their volatility: a slight etching of the oxide was enough for any spark to lift the arsenal into the air. As a result, we settled on a compromise option: mixtures different types fuel (analogs of light gasoline) and aluminum-magnesium alloy powder in a ratio of 10:1. However, experiments showed that despite the gorgeous external effects, the damaging effect of volumetric detonating charges left much to be desired. The first to fail was the idea of ​​an atmospheric explosion to destroy aircraft - the effect turned out to be insignificant, except that the turbines “failed”, which were immediately restarted again, since they did not even have time to stop. It didn’t work at all against armored vehicles; the engine didn’t even stall there. Experiments have shown that ODAB is specialized ammunition for hitting targets that are not resistant to shock waves, primarily unfortified buildings, and manpower. That's all.

A volumetric detonating explosion has a flatter shock wave front with a more extended high-pressure zone over time.

However, the flywheel of the miracle weapon was spun, and downright legendary feats were attributed to the ODABs. A particularly famous case of such bombs triggering avalanches in Afghanistan. It began to rain awards, including the highest ones. Reports of the operation mentioned the mass of the avalanche (20,000 tons) and wrote that the explosion of a space-detonating charge was equivalent to a nuclear charge. Neither more nor less. Although any mountain rescuer triggers exactly the same avalanches with simple TNT blocks.

They were going to find a very exotic application of the technology in relatively recent times, having developed, as part of conversion programs, a volumetric detonating system based on gasoline for the demolition of Khrushchev buildings. It worked out quickly and cheaply. There was only one “but”: the demolished Khrushchev buildings were not located in an open field, but in populated cities. And with such an explosion, the slabs scattered about a hundred meters.

The explosion of a thermobaric munition has a highly blurred shock wave front, which is not the primary damaging factor.

"Vacuum" myths

Myth-making around ODAB, thanks to some poorly educated journalists from the headquarters, smoothly migrated to the pages of newspapers and magazines, and the bomb itself was called “vacuum”. They say that during an explosion, all the oxygen in the cloud is burned out and a deep vacuum is formed, almost like in space, and this same vacuum begins to spread outward. That is, instead of a front of high pressure, as in a normal explosion, there is a front of low pressure. The term “reverse blast wave” was even coined. What about the press! In the early 1980s, at the military department of my physics department, almost under a non-disclosure agreement, a colonel from the General Staff spoke about new types of weapons used by the United States in Lebanon. Not without a “vacuum” bomb, which supposedly turns it into dust when it hits a building (gas penetrates into the smallest cracks), and the low vacuum carefully places this dust at the epicenter. ABOUT! Wasn’t this clear-headed person planning to demolish the Khrushchev buildings in the same way?!

If these people had studied even a little chemistry at school, they would have guessed that oxygen does not disappear anywhere - it simply transforms during the reaction, for example, into carbon dioxide with the same volume. And if in some fantastic way it simply disappeared (and there is only about 20% of it in the atmosphere), then the lack of volume would be compensated by other gases that expanded when heated. And even if all the gas disappeared from the explosion zone and a vacuum formed, then a pressure drop of one atmosphere could hardly destroy even a cardboard tank - such an assumption would simply make any military man laugh.

And from a school physics course one could learn that any shock wave (compression zone) is necessarily followed by a rarefaction zone - according to the law of conservation of mass. Simply, the explosion of a high explosive (HE) can be considered a point explosion, and a volumetric detonating charge, due to its large volume, forms a longer shock wave. That is why he does not dig craters, but knocks down trees. But there is practically no blasting (crushing) effect at all.

The storyboard clearly shows the activation of the primary detonator to form the cloud and the final explosion of the air-fuel mixture.

Modern volumetric explosion ammunition most often consists of a cylinder, the length of which is 2-3 times greater than the diameter, filled with fuel and equipped with a conventional explosive charge. This charge, the mass of which is 1-2% of the weight of the fuel, is located on the axis of the warhead, and its detonation destroys the body and sprays the fuel, forming an air-fuel mixture. The mixture should be ignited after the cloud has reached the size necessary for optimal combustion, and not immediately at the start of atomization, because initially there is not enough oxygen in the cloud. When the cloud expands to the required extent, it is undermined by four secondary charges ejected from the tail of the bomb. Their response delay is 150 ms or more. The longer the delay, the higher the likelihood that the cloud will blow away; the less, the higher the risk of incomplete explosion of the mixture due to lack of oxygen. In addition to explosive, other methods of initiating a cloud can be used, for example chemical: bromine or chlorine trifluoride is sprayed into the cloud, which spontaneously ignites upon contact with fuel.

From the film footage it is clear that the explosion of the primary charge located on the axis forms a toroidal cloud of fuel, which means that the ODAB provides the maximum effect when it falls vertically on the target - then the shock wave “spreads” along the ground. The greater the deviation from the vertical, the more wave energy is spent on useless “shaking” of the air above the targets.

The release of a powerful volume-detonating munition resembles a landing spaceship"Union". Only the ground stage is different.

Giant photo flash

But let's return to the post-war years, to experiments with aluminum and magnesium powders. It was discovered that if the explosive charge is not completely buried in the mixture, but left open at the ends, then the cloud is almost guaranteed to be ignited from the very beginning of its dispersion. From the point of view of an explosion, this is a defect; instead of detonation in a cloud, we get just zilch - albeit at a high temperature. A shock wave is also formed during such explosive combustion, but much weaker than during detonation. This process is called “thermobaric”.

The military used a similar effect long before the term itself appeared. During World War II, aerial reconnaissance successfully used the so-called FOTABs - photographic aerial bombs stuffed with a crushed alloy of aluminum and magnesium. The photo mixture is scattered by a detonator, ignites and burns using oxygen from the air. Yes, it doesn’t just burn out - a hundred-kilogram FOTAB-100 creates a flash with a luminous intensity of more than 2.2 billion candelas, lasting about 0.15 s! The light is so bright that it blinds not only enemy anti-aircraft gunners for a quarter of an hour - our consultant on super-powerful charges looked at the triggered FOTAB during the day, after which he saw bunnies in his eyes for another three hours. By the way, the technology of photography is also simplified - a bomb is dropped, the camera shutter is opened, and after a while the whole world is illuminated by a super-photo flash. The quality of the pictures, they say, was no worse than in clear sunny weather.

Heavy-duty ODABs resemble huge barrels with appropriate aerodynamics. In addition, their weight and dimensions make them suitable for bombing only from military transport aircraft that do not have bomb sights. Only the GBU-43/B, equipped with lattice rudders and a GPS-based guidance system, can hit the target more or less accurately.

But let's return to the almost useless thermobaric effect. It would have been considered harmful if the issue of protection from saboteurs had not arisen. The idea was presented to surround the protected objects with mines based on thermobaric mixtures, which would burn out all living things, but would not damage the object. In the early 1980s, the entire military leadership of the country saw the effect of thermobaric charges, and almost all branches of the military began to desire to have such weapons. For the infantry, the development of the Bumblebee and Lynx jet flamethrowers began. The Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate placed an order for the design of thermobaric warheads for multiple launch rocket systems, and the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops (RKhBZ) decided to acquire their own heavy flamethrower system (TOS) "Pinocchio."

The mother and father of all bombs

Until recently, the American Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or more officially GBU-43/B, was considered the most powerful non-nuclear bomb. But MOAB has another, unofficial, decoding - Mother Of All Bombs. The bomb makes a huge impression: its length is 10 m, its diameter is 1 m. Such bulky ammunition is even supposed to be dropped not from a bomber, but from a transport aircraft, for example, from a C-130 or C-17. Of the 9.5 tons of mass of this bomb, 8.5 tons are made up of powerful Australian-made H6 explosives, which contain aluminum powder (1.3 times more powerful than TNT). The radius of guaranteed damage is about 150 m, although partial destruction is observed at a distance of more than 1.5 km from the epicenter. The GBU-43/B cannot be called a precision weapon, but it is guided, as befits a modern weapon, using GPS. By the way, this is the first American bomb to use lattice rudders, widely used in Russian ammunition. MOAB was conceived as a successor to the famous BLU-82 Daisy Cutter and was first tested in March 2003 at a test site in Florida. The military use of such ammunition, according to the Americans themselves, is quite limited - they can only be used to clear large areas of forests. As anti-personnel or anti-tank weapons they are not very effective compared to, say, cluster bombs.

But a couple of years ago, through the mouth of the then Minister of Defense Igor Ivanov, our answer was voiced: a ten-ton “daddy of all bombs,” created using nanotechnology. The technology itself was called a military secret, but the whole world was practicing its wits about this vacuum nanobomb. Like, during an explosion, thousands and thousands of nanovacuum cleaners are sprayed, which are in the affected area and suck out all the air to a vacuum. But where is the real nanotechnology in this bomb? As we wrote above, the mixture of modern ODAB includes aluminum. And technologies for the production of aluminum powder for military applications make it possible to obtain powder with a particle size of up to 100 nm. There are nanometers, which means there are nanotechnologies.

Volumetric modeling

IN Lately, with the massive introduction of high-precision aerial bombs, interest in volumetric detonating charges has awakened again, but at a qualitatively new level. Modern guided and adjustable aerial bombs are capable of reaching a target from the desired direction and along a given trajectory. And if you spray fuel intelligent system, capable of changing the density and configuration of the fuel cloud in a given direction, and detonating it at certain points, then we will get a high-explosive charge of directed action of unprecedented power. The granddaddy of all bombs.