Thermobaric Weapons:
Russia’s use of thermobaric weapons in Ukraine has drawn significant attention due to their devastating effects, but the development and deployment of these powerful bombs are not limited to Russia.
- Thermobaric Weapons are often called “vacuum bombs” or “enhanced blast weapons”.
- It consists of a fuel container with two separate explosive charges.
- This can be launched as a rocket or dropped as a bomb from aircraft. When it hits its target, the first explosive charge opens the container and widely scatters fuel mixture as a cloud.
- This cloud can penetrate any building openings or defences that are not totally sealed.
- A second charge then detonates the cloud, resulting in a huge fireball, a massive blast wave and a vacuum which sucks up all surrounding oxygen.
- The weapon can destroy reinforced buildings, equipment and kill or injure people.
- The shockwave produced by thermobaric bombs can destroy structures, while the blast’s pressure differential causes catastrophic damage to the human body, including rupturing organs and lungs.
- There are no international laws specifically banning their use, but if a country uses them to target civilian populations in built-up areas, schools or hospitals, then it could be convicted of a war crime under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
