is it true we have a bomb made of propane that explodes 100-200 feet above ground and takes away all the oxygen for 10-20 minutes?
I think what you want to know about is an “air/fuel explosive device”. Yes, we have them, although they don’t take away the oxygen in the air for anything like that long. Only a few seconds. These things are incredibly powerful. Basicaly what it does is, when the bomb is dropped, it starts dispersing a finely calculated mist of combustable fuel. (Not propane I’m pretty sure, but I don’t know what type exactly. I suppose propane could work.) A bit after that, it ignites the fuel. What happens next has been compared to a small nuclear explosion in that you not only get the damage from the explosion itself, but then you get an almost implosion from the air rushing back to fill the vaccum. Nasty stuff. I wouldn’t reccomend anyone try to build one of these in their garage.
Somewhere out there is a video of a FAE test. It was on the news during Desert Storm. It showeda test of the bomb dropping and igniting over the desert.
The 1980 Geneva Convention forbids the use of air-delivered fuel-bombs. The Soviets/Russians used them to great effect in Afghanistan, and reportedly in Chechnya.
Ever see the movie “The Rock”? There’s a pretty good example of what a homemade FAE would look like in it… although I think the effects for such a small one were given quite a bit of “cinematic liscense”…
I’m pretty sure that the Pave Blue FAE bombs do use propane. It’s probably mixed with something, or a unique formulation for the purpose, but the idea is that it’s a fuel that can be stored in relatively low pressures- sub 200 psi- as a liquid (for density.) And when that pressure is released- the casing ruptures- the liquid “automatically” reverts to a vapor simply from the loss of the pressure. (Meaning it doesn’t need some other mechanical or chemical means of reducing the fuel to a mist.)
A fraction of a second after the casing ruptures, some form of explosive detonates to ignite the vapor.
The reason they were used to such “good” - if you’ll pardon the word- effect by the Russians, is because the target geography: lots of small hills, ravines, rocks to hide behind, etc.
The FAE explosion “starts” over a larger area than a conventional explosive, and a “near miss” can still fill a cave entrance, foxhole or small ravine with vapor, and THEN detonate it.
As an anti-material weapon, it’s not that great. Well-armored vehicles and bunkers- properly sheilded- are usually only minimally damaged. BUT, the massive overpressure wave, the ‘concussion’ of the detonation, if you will, is more than sufficient to kill, out to a surprisingly large radius.
The big, black-and-red-fireball explosions you see in the movies, such as The Rock, are a form of FAE. They use a small container of gasoline, which when “blown” with another explosive, makes the cinemagraphically cool fireballs, but does little, if any, damage.
Squink, as far as I can find out the Geneva convention doesn’t forbid the use of fuel-air bombs. What it does say is that
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So it then goes down to the lawyers on what is proportionate, and what forms indiscriminate consequences. However, please let us know if you have a better cite.
I’ve no cite better than yours, and what you say makes more sense as far as forbidding disproportionate force.