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Posts: 17958
Jul 17 15 12:43 PM
Custodian of Castle Anthrax
The first experiments with thermobaric weapon were conducted in Germany during World War II and were led by Mario Zippermayr. The German bombs used coal dust as fuel and were extensively tested in 1943 and 1944, but did not reach mass production before the war ended.
The TOS-1 system was test fired in Panjshir valley during Soviet war in Afghanistan in the early 1980s.[48]
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Russian military forces used ground delivered thermobaric weapons in the storming of the Russian parliament during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis and also during the Battle for Grozny (first and second Chechen wars) to attack dug in Chechen fighters. The use of both TOS-1 heavy MLRS and "RPO-A Shmel" shoulder-fired rocket system in the Chechen wars is reported to have occurred.[48][49]
It is theorized that a multitude of hand-held thermobaric weapons were used by the Russian Armed Forces in their efforts to retake the school during the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis. The RPO-A and either the TGB-7V thermobaric rocket from the RPG-7 or rockets from either the RShG-1 or the RShG-2 is claimed to have been used by the Spetsnaz during the initial storming of the school.[50][51][52] At least 3 and as many as 9 RPO-A casings were later found at the positions of the Spetsnaz.[53][54] The Russian Government later admitted to the use of the RPO-A during the crisis.[55]
According to UK Ministry of Defence, British military forces have also used thermobaric weapons in their AGM-114N Hellfire missiles (carried by Apache helicopters and UAVs) against the Taliban in the War in Afghanistan.[56]
The US military also used thermobaric weapons in Afghanistan. On 3 March 2002, a single 2,000 lb (910 kg) laser guided thermobaric bomb was used by the United States Army against cave complexes in which Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters had taken refuge in the Gardez region of Afghanistan.[57][58] The SMAW-NE was used by the US Marines during the First Battle of Fallujah and Second Battle of Fallujah.
Reports by the rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army claim the Syrian Air Force used such weapons against residential area targets occupied by the rebel fighters, as for instance in the Battle for Aleppo[59] and also in Kafar Batna.[60] A United Nations panel of human rights investigators reported that the Syrian government used thermobaric bombs against the rebellious town of Qusayr in March 2013.[61]
Thermobaric and fuel-air explosives have been used in guerrilla warfare since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Lebanon, which used a gas-enhanced explosive mechanism, probably propane, butane or acetylene.[62] The explosive used by the bombers in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing incorporated the FAE principle, using three tanks of bottled hydrogen gas to enhance the blast.[63][64]Jemaah Islamiyah bombers used a shock-dispersed solid fuel charge,[65] based on the thermobaric principle,[66] to attack the Sari nightclub in the 2002 Bali bombings.[67]
Molly say:So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.
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