Thermobaric you say? What now? This new breed of super weapon operates by releasing a first stage consisting of a cloud of combustible gas from the warhead, then igniting it in the second stage. The upside to this method is that is that by allowing the gas to spread first it increases the range and lethality, even for people hiding in cover. Here’s a quote from a Department of Defense analysis in 1993

“The [blast] kill mechanism against living targets is unique–and unpleasant…. What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs.… If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as most chemical agents.” … “shock and pressure waves cause minimal damage to brain tissue… it is possible that victims of FAEs are not rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or minutes while they suffocate.”

“The effect of an FAE explosion within confined spaces is immense,” said a CIA study of the weapons. “Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness.”

Sounds like that nice cave you had staked out in Afghanistan is looking a little less secure.

Check out the full story at Raw