Who needs nuclear weapons...

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

... when you can get the same effects without all those pesky non-proliferation treaties standing in the way?

Russia Tests "Father of All Bombs"

RUSSIA issued another warning to the West last night by testing the world's biggest and most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

Military leaders claimed there was "no match in the world" for the vaccuum ordnance nicknamed the "father of all bombs".

In yet more Cold War-style posturing from the former Communist state, leaders said the explosive dropped from a heavy bomber was four times more powerful than its American counterpart and could wreak huge devastation.

And while it had no nuclear warhead, military chiefs said it matched uranium-primed weapons in its power.

Alexander Rukhsin, a deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said: "The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability."

He added the new bomb would allow the military to "protect the nation’s security and confront international terrorism in any situation and any region".

Tested at a secret site in the former Soviet Republic, the drop was broadcast on Channel One television.

Footage showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb over a testing ground. A large explosion followed before viewers saw what looked like a flattened multi-storeyed block of flats, surrounded by scorched soil and boulders.

The report showed the bomb dropping by parachute from a Tu-160 strategic bomber and exploding in a massive fireball. It featured the debris of apartment buildings and armored vehicles at a testing range, as well as ground burnt by a massive explosion.

Such devices generally detonate in two stages. First a small blast disperses a main load of explosive material into a cloud, which then either spontaneously ignites in air or is set off by a second charge.

This explosion generates a pressure wave that reaches much further than that from a conventional explosive. The consumption of gases in the blast also generates a partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself.

"The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and an incredibly high temperature," the report said. "All that is alive merely evaporates."

Channel One said that while the Russian bomb contains about 7 tons of high explosives compared with more than 8 tons of explosives in the U.S. bomb it is four times more powerful because it uses a new, highly efficient type of explosives developed with the use of nanotechnology.

While the American bomb is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT, the Russian one is equivalent to 44 tons of regular explosives.

The Russian weapon’s blast radius is 990 feet, twice as big as that of the U.S. design, the report said.

However, unlike nuclear weapons vacuum bombs will not contaminate the target area.

The tests come just days after British fighters were scrambled to intercept eight Russian warplanes as they were about to enter British airspace.

Booming oil prices have allowed Russia to steadily increase military spending in recent years, and the Kremlin has taken an increasingly assertive posture in global affairs.

Last month, Putin said he ordered a resumption of regular patrol flights of strategic bombers that had been suspended after the 1991 Soviet breakup.

A new ordnance, claimed by the Russian military as the world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb, explodes in a giant fireball during a test in this undated television image shown by Russian Channel One television, Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo / Russian Channel One Television)

[guigsy]

man, does anyone else think the timing of this is weird? putin just dissolved the government as well, and im not sure how things work over there, but without anyone to answer to, does that not give him a free hand right now?

there's some heavy posturing happening right now.

russia and china would likely defend iran should the u.s. do anything crazy over there, and all signs are pointing to the u.s. doing something crazy over there. and soon. talk of putting a base at the iraq/iran border, and i read today that they are sending british troops to the border.

i started a thread the other day about the air force homeland stand down because of the "mistaken" nuke shipment, oddly coinciding with the cia announcement warning of al qaida nuclear attacks.. if shit does go down and they use that as a springboard to iran, like they did with 9/11 and iraq, all hell's gonna breakloose... and right now russia seems to be wagging the finger.

this stuff drives me nuts... i need to smoke a bowl... then again, on second thought...

[Schwa.]

The Cold-er War?

[phishtaper]

The Cold-er War?

during global heating?

[timouse]

if anyone needs me i'll be on the roof signalling passing flying saucers.