(115.) See BLU-118/ B
Thermobaric Weapons, GLOBALSECURITY, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/blu-118.htm (last visited May 6, 2011); Pentagon to Use New Bomb on Afghan Caves, CNN NEWS (December 22, 2001), http://articles.cnn.com/2001-12-22/us/ret.new.
Aware of public sensitivity to the use of
thermobaric weapons the Defence Procurement Agency stressed throughout the competition that they were seeking a weapon fitted with an enhanced blast warhead not a thermobaric warhead.
One area of concern is the lack of adequate training available for first responders in how to spot car bombs and or how to counter thermobaric weapons, he said.
There are some federal agencies that have begun discussing thermobaric weapons as it relates to terrorists, but again, the sensitive nature of the weapons has slowed the flow of information, said Burky.
As the name implies, heat and pressure are important characteristics of thermobaric weapons. Rapid pressure spikes are characteristic of conventional explosives.
Thermobaric weapons have been used in several armed conflicts.
Thermobaric weapons, for instance, which employ kinetic energy have been called directed-energy weapons, rather than the laser energy often associated with that category of weapons.
Thermobaric weapons contain slow-burning explosive slurries that keep their explosive impulses on a target longer.
UP IN the skies and beyond the range of enemy radars, 30 Indian commandos armed with Kalashnikovs, Tavors, rocket- propelled guns and
thermobaric weapons deploy parachutes on a dark, cold moonless night for a rare military insertion to ambush terror assets on the rugged Himalayan terrain of Pakistanoccupied Kashmir.
He stressed the hostile warplanes had intensified their raids on villages and neighborhoods using weapons such as cluster bombs and
thermobaric weapons.
As an example, Sega--a retired Air Force major general and shuttle astronaut--cited the
thermobaric weapons first introduced during the war in Afghanistan.