War in Ukraine
A mushroom like an atomic bomb – Putin uses heavy aerosol bombs
The bombs are said to have hit the Kraken Battalion.
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The Ukrainian troops are helpless against the Russian glide bombs. Now an even more dangerous bomb was used. The ODAB-150 is one of the feared thermobaric weapons.
A video now shows the use of a different type, an ODAB-1500 – a so-called volume detonation bomb. It can be recognized by its mushroom cloud, which rises over a kilometer in height.
More effective than conventional bombs
It has a much stronger effect for the same weight. The ODAB series belongs to aerosol weapons. Which means: There is no oxidizer in its warhead; it draws the oxygen necessary for the explosion from the surrounding air. It therefore only has to transport the “explosive” and saves the oxidizer – the effect is correspondingly greater. Since it draws oxygen out of the air, the explosive must be dispersed in the air before the explosion. How can you imagine that? Kind of like using a sprayer to spread gasoline around a room and then igniting the air-fuel mixture. Compared to an explosive bomb, there is no heavy metal casing. Since the ODAB essentially consists of the explosive, its effect is much greater than that of other bombs.
Creates multiple destruction zones
The effect of the explosion is also different. It is a classic mine; if it is detonated, the deadly aerosol mist spreads over a larger area. So it’s not a point weapon. When the deadly mist is ignited, the explosion hits the ground like Thor’s hammer. Bunkers, shelters, trenches and the like are simply crushed. A fireball burns everything – it rolls beyond the actual center. At the center of the explosion, people are burned and crushed. In addition, a glowing pressure wave spreads. It is followed by a low pressure zone. This is where the name vacuum bombs come from. If the wave subsides, the drama repeats itself, the explosion is followed by an implosion as the negative pressure in the zone is filled. People in the wider area suffer from burns, the shock waves in the body and brain and collapsing lungs. Even people who appear to be uninjured or only slightly injured experience hypoxia due to the lack of oxygen.
Russian specialty
Thermobaric and aerosol weapons are more important in Russia and the USSR than in the West. The volley guns of the TOS series are known from Ukraine. The Russians have been using them to fight the Ukrainian fortifications for a long time. But the thrower has to expose himself in order to have an effect; the much heavier bomb is released far away.
The mother and father of all bombs
The American BLU-82B/C-130 “Daisy Cutter” achieves a similar effect, but uses normal explosives. It achieves its strength through a weight of 6.8 tons. One of the largest weapons of this type is the American “mother of all bombs” (GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast). It also does not use the aerosol principle. Its weight is 9.5 tons and the explosive power is 11 tons of TNT equivalent. Even more powerful is the Russian “father of all bombs”, the most powerful conventional weapon in the world. Because the “father” uses thermobaric construction, it generates an explosive force of 44 tons of TNT equivalent from just 7.1 tons of weight. This roughly corresponds to a tactical nuclear head. Such weapons have not yet been used in Ukraine.