WILL THERMOBARIC WEAPONS OVERWHELM THE MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM?
By Eddie Lopez August 8, 2018
Thermobaric weapons in high-intensity conflict dramatically change the quantity and severity of blast injuries
In April of 2017, in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, the US used a Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb against a subterranean network of fortified tunnels and bunkers. Accurate casualty totals were impossible to calculate, because any living thing close to the blast area was vaporized; however, casualty estimates range from 36 to 85 killed. Russia has been modernizing thermobaric munitions over the past two decades, it now possesses a bomb four times more powerful than the one the US used in Afghanistan. Recently, Russia used thermobaric weapons against ground forces in Ukraine. During the Battle of Zelenopillya, a single thermobaric strike nearly destroyed two Ukrainian mechanized battalions in a matter of minutes. In Syria, a Russian-made air-to-surface thermobaric bomb struck a market in Douma, killing almost 100 people. Meanwhile, China produces a wide range of thermobaric munitions, from small weapons launched as Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) to artillery rockets and aircraft delivered bombs.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/will-thermobaric-weapons-overwhelm-the-military-health-system/
