DESTRUCTION: The world's largest non-nuclear bomb tested by Russians
Posted on 09/11/2007 5:59:17 PM PDT by Stoat
Russia has exploded the world's biggest non-nuclear bomb in a dramatic escalation of the new Cold War.
Nicknamed 'the father of all bombs', it was filmed being dropped from a strategic bomber and exploding in a massive fireball.
The film then showed the debris of apartment buildings and armoured vehicles at a testing range, as well as ground burned by a massive explosion.
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DESTRUCTION: The world's largest non-nuclear bomb tested by Russians
It didn't give the bomb's military name or say when it was tested.
Yuri Balyko, head of the Russian defence ministry's institute in charge of weapons design, said yesterday: "We have got a relatively cheap ordnance with a high strike power."
The test comes as Russia spends massively increased oil revenue on rebuilding its military might.
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It has been nicknamed the "dad of all bombs" and is four times more powerful than the U.S. "mother of all bombs."
The device is said to be four times more powerful than America's Massive Ordnance Air Blast, nicknamed the Mother Of All Bombs.
It would target more specific areas than nuclear bombs, and is an immediate threat to problem areas such as Chechnya.
Last night a source close to the US National Security Council said it was a "matter of concern" that Moscow would develop such a huge weapon at a time when there was no obvious need.
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A computer image of a new ordnance from Russian tv which is claimed by the Russian military the world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb
He added that the US would ask for an explanation. He said there was "no chance" that America would become involved in a new arms race with the Russians and that the US had no use for bombs larger than the ones already in its arsenal.
While US intelligence was aware that Moscow was working on a new thermobaric device, it did not know that a test was imminent.
The latest raising of tension by Russia comes after president Vladimir Putin revived the Cold War era practice of flying bombers on long-range patrols.
Last week Royal Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept eight Russian military planes flying in airspace patrolled by Nato.
The incident was the latest this summer in which British fighters have been used to warn off long-range Russian reconnaissance aircraft.
The so-called Mother of all Bombs is the biggest weapon in America's arsenal, capable of detonating 21,000lb of explosives above the ground.
The huge bomb, dropped from a slowmoving C130 Hercules aircraft and guided to its target by the satellite-linked global positioning system, can create temperatures of up to 1,000f (538c).
It is designed to obliterate chemical or biological agents concealed in bunkers.
The US is believed to have 15 in its arsenal but none is believed to have been used against an enemy.
>>>The test comes as Russia spends massively increased oil revenue on rebuilding its military might.
To put that in perspective...
Russian GDP $733.6 billion (2006 est.)
(purchasing power parity): $1.746 trillion (2006 est.)
Mexican $743.5 billion (2006 est.)
(purchasing power parity):$1.149 trillion (2006 est.)
United States GDP $13.13 trillion (2006 est.)
I read that too fast and thought you said Chicano-Islamists. D’oh!
Them too. ;)
Jose Padilla?
I think the North Vietnamese tried to complain that FAEs were chemical warfare weapons. I'm pretty sure FAEs were used on SAM sites. The pressure blast did a number on the radar CRTs, not to mention the lungs of the personnel manning the sites.
And in a thermobaric, where does the energy release come from?
And death by suffocation over five minutes? What do you mean?
Thermobaric bombs don’t have a terribly negative oxygen balance, due to the type of fuel used. If they did, you’d never get all of the fuel to detonate. TNT is quite oxy negative by contrast.
A gasoline-based FAB or thermobaric would be limited to the air in the immediate vicinity. That’s why they don’t use it.
If you want to believe that the Russian thermobarics can completely eliminate human life within three miles you are free to do so, but I remain skeptical.
"Have they EVER invented anything?"For instance, Mi-24 Hind looks like its pretty original and not a knockoff/influenced by anything that the West had at the time.
I thought this was about Britney Spears at the VMAs. Wrong thread.
No doubt you'd explode this thing fairly close to the ground.
Oh and they dang near have the market cornered on camgirls. Apparently that’s how they pay for college.
Bet this sucker works great on bacteria.
“Bet this sucker works great on bacteria.”
Yeah, lots of heat for an extended time after a really punchy shockwave to disrupt containers.
Cleanup in quanat 5, cleanup...
Ok I'll give you baked meat pies.
Thanks, although upon reflection I'm wondering if our British Friends may have beat the Russkies on that one? In truth, I was thinking of the Peroshki (I've seen it's English spelling also as Perogie) and so I really should have described it as something other than a "baked meat pie", perhaps a "precursor of the Hot Pocket and filled with Mystery Meat"?
But alcoholism and hot tennis stars were NOT invented in Russia.
Not meaning to sound combative or pedantic, but my actual statement was "alcoholism as an accepted national pastime". Again, upon reflection, I'm thinking that even that mantle may have been first grabbed by Iceland? I'm not well versed on the history of "culturally cavalier attitudes toward alcoholism" and so I admit I'm unsure.
And again my statement was "certain hot female tennis stars" with the underlying meaning being that Anna Kournikova was indeed "invented in Russia".
The Russians perfected depressing literature but the Greeks invented it.
Point taken, but I would suggest that the Russians have perfected it so well that "Russian Literature" and "oh Lord, how incredibly depressing, don't make me read that" have become nearly interchangeable phrases, whereas the mention of Greek literature would not typically elicit a deep sigh and a baleful expression from the typical passersby.
He said there's a veritable world garden waiting the right people to put it together.
Think Catherine the Great ~ Iran is just a fantastic natural resource crying out for new, more responsible owners.
Oh, I didn’t realize that the Tsar Bomba was a nuke.
That would make a great tagline.
bttt
Warning: Off Topic Question Follows.
Are you using the tilda (~) to avoid using the new, awkward looking dash (—)?
bttt
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