As Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues, the U.S. has seen credible reports of deliberate use by Russia of cluster munitions and vacuum bombs. Here's what you need to know about these weapons.
On Feb. 28, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, accused Russia of also using vacuum bombs, controversial thermobaric weapons, in its invasion. Aseeing a Russian thermobaric rocket launcher — which is capable of launching vacuum bombs — south of Belgorod, Russia, near the Ukrainian border, on Feb. 26, but so far there is no evidence that the actual thermobaric weapons have been used by Russia. The Kremlin denied the use of cluster munitions or vacuum bombs.
"Vacuum bomb" is not a particularly good description. It's a thermobaric weapon. And nobody ever hears the word "thermobaric" very much, so it's confusing. I think the difference between thermobaric systems that are either single-warhead or cluster munitions is that the way a thermobaric warhead works is, there is a two-stage system.One is an aerosol. When it first hits, it flows the aerosol and essentially completely blankets the range of the system in this vapor.
It has 28 220-mm rockets, and the only purpose of those is to shoot thermobaric rounds. One launcher with these 28 things can launch in 15 to 30 seconds, all the rockets in it. And it will essentially blanket an area that's 200 by 400 meters. So you think about something longer than two football fields and wider than four. And it vaporizes what's in there. So it's devastating. It's also very effective.
There's a [separate] Central Intelligence Agency report that notes, "The effective fuel-air explosive explosion within confined space is a mess. Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe will likely suffer many internal and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums, crushed inner-ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness.