A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanical stress, the impact and penetration of pressure-driven projectiles, pressure damage, and explosion-generated effects.
Bombs have been utilized since the 11th century starting in East Asia.The term bomb is not usually applied to explosive devices used for civilian purposes such as construction or mining, although the people using the devices may sometimes refer to them as a "bomb". The military use of the term "bomb", or more specifically aerial bomb action, typically refers to airdropped, unpowered explosive weapons most commonly used by and naval aviation. Other military explosive weapons not classified as "bombs" include shells, (used in water), or . In unconventional warfare, other names can refer to a range of offensive weaponry. For instance, in recent asymmetric conflicts, homemade bombs called "improvised explosive devices" (IEDs) have been employed by irregular forces to great effectiveness.
The word comes from the Latin bombus, which in turn comes from the Greek language βόμβος romanized , βόμβος , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus an onomatopoeia term meaning 'booming', 'buzzing'.
Bombs made of cast iron shells packed with explosive gunpowder date to 13th century China. Explosive bombs were used in East Asia in 1221, by a Jurchen Jin army against a Song dynasty city.
The term for this explosive bomb seems to have been coined the "thunder crash bomb" during a Jin dynasty (1115–1234) naval battle in 1231 against the Mongols.Needham, Joseph. (1987). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University Press. pp. 170–174.The History of Jin (金史) (compiled by 1345) states that in 1232, as the Mongol general Subutai (1176–1248) descended on the Jin stronghold of Kaifeng, the defenders had a "thunder crash bomb" which "consisted of gunpowder put into an iron container ... then when the fuse was lit (and the projectile shot off) there was a great explosion the noise whereof was like thunder, audible for more than thirty miles, and the vegetation was scorched and blasted by the heat over an area of more than half a mou. When hit, even Chinese armour was quite pierced through."
The Song Dynasty (960–1279) official Li Zengbo wrote in 1257 that should have several hundred thousand iron bomb shells available and that when he was in Jingzhou, about one to two thousand were produced each month for dispatch of ten to twenty thousand at a time to Xiangyang and Yingzhou. The Ming Dynasty text Huolongjing describes the use of poisonous gunpowder bombs, including the "wind-and-dust" bomb.
During the Mongol invasions of Japan, the Mongols used the explosive "thunder-crash bombs" against the Japanese. Archaeological evidence of the "thunder-crash bombs" has been discovered in an underwater shipwreck off the shore of Japan by the Kyushu Okinawa Society for Underwater Archaeology. X-rays by Japanese scientists of the excavated shells confirmed that they contained gunpowder.
Shock waves produced by explosive events have two distinct components, the positive and negative wave. The positive wave shoves outward from the point of detonation, followed by the trailing vacuum space "sucking back" towards the point of origin as the shock bubble collapses. The greatest defense against shock injuries is distance from the source of shock.
As a point of reference, the overpressure at the Oklahoma City bombing was estimated in the range of
While conventionally viewed as small metal shards moving at super-supersonic speed and hypersonic speed speeds, fragmentation can occur in epic proportions and travel for extensive distances. When the SS Grandcamp exploded in the Texas City Disaster on April 16, 1947, one fragment of that blast was a two-ton anchor which was hurled nearly two miles inland to embed itself in the parking lot of the Pan American refinery.
Improvised explosive materials are typically unstable and subject to spontaneous, unintentional detonation triggered by a wide range of environmental effects, ranging from impact and friction to electrostatic shock. Even subtle motion, change in temperature, or the nearby use of cellphones or radios can trigger an unstable or remote-controlled device. Any interaction with explosive materials or devices by unqualified personnel should be considered a grave and immediate risk of death or dire injury. The safest response to finding an object believed to be an explosive device is to get as far away from it as possible.
Atomic bombs are based on the theory of nuclear fission, that when a large atom splits, it releases a massive amount of energy. Thermonuclear weapons, (colloquially known as "hydrogen bombs") use the energy from an initial fission explosion to create an even more powerful nuclear fusion explosion.
The term "dirty bomb" refers to a specialized device that relies on a comparatively low explosive yield to scatter harmful material over a wide area. Most commonly associated with radiological or chemical materials, dirty bombs seek to kill or injure and then to deny access to a contaminated area until a thorough clean-up can be accomplished. In the case of urban settings, this clean-up may take extensive time, rendering the contaminated zone virtually uninhabitable in the interim.
The power of large bombs is typically measured in TNT equivalent. The most powerful bombs ever used in combat were the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the most powerful ever tested was the Tsar Bomba. The most powerful non-nuclear bomb is "Father of All Bombs" (officially Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP)) followed by the United States Air Force's MOAB (officially Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or more commonly known as the "Mother of All Bombs").
Below is a list of five different types of bombs based on the fundamental explosive mechanism they employ.
A pure fusion weapon is a hypothetical nuclear weapon that does not require a primary fission stage to start a fusion reaction.
The first bombing from a fixed-wing aircraft took place in 1911 when the Italians dropped bombs by hand on the Turkish lines in what is now Libya, during the Italo-Turkish War.
The first large scale dropping of bombs took place during World War I starting in 1915 with the German Zeppelin airship raids on London, England, and the same war saw the invention of the first . One Zeppelin raid on 8 September 1915 dropped of high explosives and incendiary bombs, including one bomb that weighed .Wilbur Cross, "Zeppelins of World War I" page 35, published 1991 Paragon House ISBN I-56619-390-7During World War II bombing became a major military feature, and a number of novel delivery methods were introduced. These included Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb, designed to bounce across water, avoiding and other underwater defenses, until it reached a dam, ship, or other destination, where it would sink and explode. By the end of the war, planes such as the allied forces' Avro Lancaster were delivering with accuracy from , ten ton (also invented by Barnes Wallis) named "Grand Slam", which, unusually for the time, were delivered from high altitude in order to gain high speed, and would, upon impact, penetrate and explode deep underground ("camouflet"), causing massive caverns or craters, and affecting targets too large or difficult to be affected by other types of bomb.
Modern military bomber aircraft are designed around a large-capacity internal bomb bay, while usually carry bombs externally on pylons or bomb racks or on multiple ejection racks, which enable mounting several bombs on a single pylon. Some bombs are equipped with a parachute, such as the World War II "parafrag" (an fragmentation bomb), the Vietnam War-era daisy cutters, and the bomblets of some modern . Parachutes slow the bomb's descent, giving the dropping aircraft time to get to a safe distance from the explosion. This is especially important with air-burst nuclear weapons (especially those dropped from slower aircraft or with very high yields), and in situations where the aircraft releases a bomb at low altitude. A number of modern bombs are also precision-guided munitions, and may be guided after they leave an aircraft by remote control, or by autonomous guidance.
Aircraft may also deliver bombs in the form of on guided , such as long-range , which can also be launched from .
A hand grenade is delivered by being thrown. Grenades can also be projected by other means, such as being launched from the muzzle of a rifle (as in the rifle grenade), using a grenade launcher (such as the M203), or by attaching a rocket to the explosive grenade (as in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)).
A bomb may also be positioned in advance and concealed.
A bomb destroying a rail track just before a train arrives will usually cause the train to derailment. In addition to the damage to vehicles and people, a bomb exploding in a transport network often damages, and is sometimes mainly intended to damage, the network itself. This applies to , , , and , and, to a lesser extent (depending on circumstances), to roads.
In the case of suicide bombing, the bomb is often carried by the attacker on their body, or in a vehicle driven to the target.
The Blue Peacock nuclear mines, which were also termed "bombs", were planned to be positioned during wartime and be constructed such that, if disturbed, they would explode within ten seconds.
The explosion of a bomb may be triggered by a detonator or a fuse. Detonators are triggered by , like or some kind of sensor, such as pressure (altitude), radar, vibration or contact. Detonators vary in ways they work, they can be electrical, fire fuze or blast initiated detonators and others,
Other types of , such as dust explosion or BLEVE explosions, do not cause craters or even have definitive blast seats.
|
|