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Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Putin’s nuclear option — Beatrice Fihn

What happens when you don't listen.

Politico
Putin’s nuclear option
Beatrice Fihn

3 comments:

  1. Nothing has happened. We've been here since the dawn of the atomic age.

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  2. The power of a tactical nuclear weapon with rockets fired in salvo.

    DEATH FROM ABOVE Fears Putin will deploy Russia’s terrifying thermobaric rocket launchers that can ‘explode’ enemy’s lungs in Ukraine

    Putin is deploying Russia’s terrifying thermobaric rocket launchers in Ukraine.

    This one is dropped by a bomber.

    The thermobaric device yields the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT using about seven tons of a new type of high explosive. Because of this, the bomb's blast and pressure wave have a similar effect to a small tactical nuclear weapon. The bomb works by detonating in mid-air. Most damage is inflicted by a supersonic shockwave and extremely high temperatures. Thermobaric weapons differ from conventional explosive weapons in that they generate a longer, more sustained blast wave with greater temperatures. In doing so, they produce more damage over a larger area than a conventional weapon of similar mass.

    source: Father of All Bombs

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  3. This in today's Daily Mail:

    Furious Putin prepares to use 'father of all bombs' as brave Ukrainians hold up advance: West warns Russia could use terror weapon that vaporizes bodies alongside a massive Amphibious assault as invaders run into fierce resistance in Kyiv

    Russia could use savage superweapons that vaporize bodies and crush internal organs if their assault of Ukraine becomes bogged down, Western officials warned tonight.

    They fear Vladimir Putin could resort to high-power thermobaric weapons - dubbed the 'father of all bombs' - as brave Ukrainians resist his attempts to take control of Kyiv.

    There are also concerns that units that are running behind schedule as they encounter stiff opposition could resort to indiscriminate shelling as a terror weapon.

    Thermobaric weapons - also known as vacuum bombs - are high-powered explosive that use the atmosphere itself as part of the explosion. They are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed.

    A thermobaric bomb dropped by the US on Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300metres (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.

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