Quote:
Originally Posted by WallShadow
Has anyone ever tried to use either Thermo- or Hyperbaric warheads to blow firebreaks or steal oxygen from forest fires? If you could ensure the area below is evacuated, it would be a serious timesaver. And seeing how the warheads can be practically miniaturized, how about pods of FAE rockets or a magazine full of FAE 40mm grenades to shoot down a line of trees? Or even more dramatic, blow down an escape route for encircled smokejumpers.
ISTR air dropped depth charges (with the fuse rigged on a long probe to only be activated at slightly above zero elevation) being used to clear jungle in WW2 and purpose-built BLU-82s, also with fuse extensiong for aboveground detonation, in Vietnam--the latter for expedient chopper LZs. Again, the only thing holding firefighters back from using this is keeping boots on the ground out of the blast radius.
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Thermobarics would be out because of the incendiary component in them. Hyperbarics would cost too much. That's why Primer Cord and its slightly more powerful cousin Detcord are used for those applications.