China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, science paper shows
China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, science paper shows
www.scmp.com
China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, science paper shows
5 comments
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So it's a type of thermobaric weapon. It's composed of magnesium hydride, which holds hydrogen more effectively than pressurized gas tanks, and it releases that hydrogen when detonated by a primer charge. It then ignites all that released hydrogen mixed with air to make a very impressive fireball.
A better name than "non-nuclear hydrogen bomb" exists, but would probably be longer and more specific. Hydride thermobaric bomb maybe.
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This is incredibly misleading. A "hydrogen bomb" generally refers to a thermonuclear fusion weapon. This is not that. It's just a "regular" chemical explosive.
The article makes it sound like this is a modified version of what's known as a hydrogen bomb, but without a fission-based detonator. It is not. It's a chemical bomb that yields flammable products so you get a fireball.
Also explosions aren't better because they last long lol, the whole point of an explosion is to be fast. By these metrics a log of wood is an even better bomb