Click on the Thumbnail to view the animation.
There are many different types of Thermobaric weapons, it is the destructive concept that renders Thermobarics different than conventional high explosives.  Rather than a simple bomb with high explosives in the warhead, thermobaric weapons, or fuel-air bombs, are predominantly filled with either an aerosol or powder of a high explosive mixture.  The bomb has 2 charges, the first to blow away the casing and release the aerosol cloud, and the second to detonate the cloud.  This 2 stage method renders the size of the blast to be drastically larger in diameter than conventional…

Western forces beware, the Chinese have fielded the most advanced tank yet! Well, only the most advanced in China that is. Following in the ancient Chinese tradition of quantity over quality and cheap products, the Chinese have developed their own 3rd generation battle tank that they believe is the answer to the Western nations’ superior tank designs. Likewise, they also used their other ancient tradition of ripping off western designs to compensate for their lack of engineering ability in the design of this tank. Yes, the Type 99 tank does possess many up-to-date gimmicks like a laser awareness system to…

For all those military buffs out there, wink wink, I would like to take a moment to commend one of the greatest programming achievements in the history of television. The Discovery Communications company, the parent of the Military Channel, converted the older Discovery Wings channel into the Military Channel in July of 1998, and has rapidly increased it’s program listing since then. If you like what you see here on Future Firepower, definitely take the time to check out some of the awesome shows they have on the Military Channel. Just to name a few of the…

SWORDS

Manufacturer: Foster-Miller

The SWORDS military robot is basically the first evolution of robotic weapons. What used to be mere science fiction in the 80’s has now become a reality, and 10 years from now, the SWORDS robot will be in the scrap pile. That’s because this tiny guy represents a proof-of-concept project to show the world, and the US leaders, that robotic tanks and such can and should be built. It goes to show that we can create offroad robots that can tote many different types of guns (the SWORDS can be outfitted with a rocket launcher,…