Stay safe; stay armed.
Posted on 08/15/2002 4:34:04 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
INDIAN HEAD, Md. (NNS) -- Scientists and engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head were instrumental in the development of thermobaric weapons used in Afghanistan earlier this year during Operation Enduring Freedom. These warheads, integrated into a laser-guided missile launched from an F-15, proved to be effective in air strikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Now, NSWC Indian Head is developing a thermobaric warhead for the Marine Corps to use with the Shoulder-Mounted Multi-Purpose Assault Weapon.
As a result of Enduring Freedom, the Marines realized a need for a shoulder-mounted thermobaric warhead with penetration capability to defeat a wide variety of targets in urban environments. The Marine Corps Systems Command approached NSWC Indian Head engineers and scientists, who formed a team with NSWC Dahlgren and private industry to accomplish the task.
The project is divided into two phases. Phase one, completed recently, concentrated on integrating the PBXIH-135 explosive into a shoulder-mounted warhead, redesigning the fuse interfaces to allow for reliable detonation against a variety of targets, booster design for full detonation and warhead case design to permit increased explosive fill capacity and penetration through a wide range of urban targets.
Phase two is planned to complete safety certification and produce a number of these weapons for delivery to the warfighter.
Thermobaric explosives create sustained temperatures and overpressurization in confined structures, such as caves, tunnels or hardened structures. They are fuel-rich explosives that use oxygen from the target to create a longer burn time than conventional explosives, making it more effective in caves and tunnels, while, in a sense, sucking the air from the confined space.
For more news from Naval Sea Systems Command, visit their custom Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/navsea .
Stay safe; stay armed.
It wouldn't be considered an assault weapon, would it..;)
Are we funding our own destruction?
Just a thought.
I'm not sure. It is my understanding that the two are very similar, but they have their differences, too.
These thermobaric bombs use powdered aluminum instead. It is the same concept as a grain elevator explosion, lots of surface area on the individual grains of aluminum which readily combines with the oxygen in the surrounding environment. Another analogy is to imagine a two pound piece of wood and two pounds of saw dust. Which burns faster.
Better living through chemistry.
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They called it PBXIH-135. It was the formula for an experimental explosive, developed in the early 1990s, that had shown great promise in initial tests but had never made the transition into a full-scale weapon.
The mixture consists of a common military explosive called HMX, blended with a polyurethane rubber. When detonated by a smaller explosion, the HMX molecules convert to gas and create a huge shock wave. Explosives 101.
But a shock wave isn't enough for clearing out underground tunnels. The secret to PBXIH-135 is the addition of a precise mixture of aluminum powder, which burns in the hot gases. Long after the initial shock wave, the burning aluminum sends heat and pressure bounding through corridors and around corners in search of oxygen - thus the term thermobaric, from the Greek words for heat and pressure.
A typical explosion might last a few microseconds and course a few hundred feet down a tunnel. But a thermobaric blast, fueled with aluminum and detonated in a confined space, can last several seconds, release seven times more energy and effect a "functional kill" thousands of feet away.
"The hot pressure gases will squirt into every nook and cranny - up, down, around corners and staircases," said Erwin Anderson, a retired Indian Head scientist who developed the formula. "It is particularly lethal."
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