Episode 1764
Thermobaric weapon
Wed, 2022-Mar-02 02:01 UTC
Length - 2:25
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 806,628 views on Tuesday, 1 March 2022 our article of the day is Thermobaric weapon.
A thermobaric weapon, aerosol bomb, fuel air explosive or vacuum bomb is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. In practice, the blast wave typically produced by these weapons lasts significantly longer than that of a conventional condensed explosive. This can be launched as a rocket or dropped from an airplane as a bomb. The initial explosive charge detonates as it hits its target, opening the container and dispersing the fuel mixture as a cloud. The fuel–air explosive is one of the best-known types of thermobaric weapon.
Most conventional explosives consist of a fuel–oxidizer premix (black powder, for example, contains 25% fuel and 75% oxidizer), but thermobaric weapons are almost 100% fuel and so are significantly more energetic than conventional condensed explosives of equal weight. Their reliance on atmospheric oxygen makes them unsuitable for use under water, at high altitude, and in adverse weather. They are, however, considerably more destructive when used against field fortifications such as foxholes, tunnels, bunkers, and caves, partly because of the sustained blast wave and partly by the consumption of the oxygen inside it. Many types of thermobaric weapons can be fitted to hand-held launchers.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:01 UTC on Wednesday, 2 March 2022.
For the full current version of the article, see Thermobaric weapon on Wikipedia.
This podcast is produced by Abulsme Productions based on Wikipedia content and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit wikioftheday.com for our archives, sister podcasts, and swag. Please subscribe to never miss an episode. You can also follow @WotDpod on Twitter.
Abulsme Productions produces the current events podcast Curmudgeon's Corner as well. Check it out in your podcast player of choice.
This has been Joey Standard. Thank you for listening to popular Wiki of the Day.
|
|
Buy WotD Stuff!!
