US Marines' new SMAW-NE thermobaric munitions system (rocket launcher, AWESOME)

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VERTiG0
cunning linguist.

Registered: Dec 2003
Location: no longer Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

US Marines' new SMAW-NE thermobaric munitions system (rocket launcher, AWESOME)

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001944.html

quote:

War is hell. But it’s worse when the Marines bring out their new urban combat weapon, the SMAW-NE. Which may be why they’re not talking about it, much.

This is a version of the standard USMC Shoulder Mounted Assault Weapon but with a new warhead. Described as NE - "Novel Explosive"- it is a thermobaric mixture which ignites the air, producing a shockwave of unparalleled destructive power, especially against buildings.

smaw-ne sequence.JPGA post-action report from Iraq describes the effect of the new weapon: "One unit disintegrated a large one-storey masonry type building with one round from 100 meters. They were extremely impressed." Elsewhere it is described by one Marine as "an awesome piece of ordnance."

It proved highly effective in the battle for Fallujah. This from the Marine Corps Gazette, July edition: "SMAW gunners became expert at determining which wall to shoot to cause the roof to collapse and crush the insurgents fortified inside interior rooms."

The NE round is supposed to be capable of going through a brick wall, but in practice gunners had to fire through a window or make a hole with an anti-tank rocket. Again, from the Marine Corps Gazette:

"Due to the lack of penetrating power of the NE round, we found that our assaultmen had to first fire a dual-purpose rocket in order to create a hole in the wall or building. This blast was immediately followed by an NE round that would incinerate the target or literally level the structure."

The rational for this approach was straightforward:

"Marines could employ blast weapons prior to entering houses that had become pillboxes, not homes. The economic cost of house replacement is not comparable to American lives...all battalions adopted blast techniques appropriate to entering a bunker, assuming you did not know if the bunker was manned."

More at the link above. Simply put, it's a man-portable fuel-air explosive.

Totally awesome to be able to bring down a building with a single shot from a portable shoulder-mounted weapon system.

I can just see Talley Defence Systems' copy writer getting totally pumped writing that brochure for the SMAW-NE entitled "Thermobaric Urban Destruction."

Last edited by VERTiG0 on Nov-21-2005 at 04:15

Nov-21-2005 04:06 Canada

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Yohan
Champion of Deep&Nu-disco

Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Kitchener, Ont, Soviet Canuckistan

Hmmm... Interesting.

I'd be leery about using against targets with potential civvies in them, then again, the insurgents use civvies as shield. Perfect for taking out bunkers though.

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Nov-21-2005 04:16 Canada

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VERTiG0
cunning linguist.

Registered: Dec 2003
Location: no longer Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

More awesome content:

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]

Nov-21-2005 04:53 Canada

zoogla
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Registered: Not Yet
Location:

Damn. Don't have time to read everything in the links, but those pics remind me of that "imploding" weapon that was detonated in the movie, "Stealth". Just rented it this weekend and I loved that scene of flying straight down at the building and releasing that weapon so it could penetrate all the floors of the building and bring it down onto itself. Beauty.

Nov-21-2005 04:56

VERTiG0
cunning linguist.

Registered: Dec 2003
Location: no longer Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

quote:
Originally posted by fayraree
Damn. Don't have time to read everything in the links, but those pics remind me of that "imploding" weapon that was detonated in the movie, "Stealth". Just rented it this weekend and I loved that scene of flying straight down at the building and releasing that weapon so it could penetrate all the floors of the building and bring it down onto itself. Beauty.

That movie was super fun to watch and Jessica Biel is a bombshell herself.

Nov-21-2005 05:04 Canada

dEsidEL
Fu Man Choonz

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Below the Belt

such a fine peice of weaponry !

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Nov-21-2005 05:06 Micronesia-Federal State of

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AwakenedAddict
Transplanted

Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Berkeley, California

quote:
Originally posted by dEsidEL

such a fine peice of weaponry !

Jah, Jessica Biel is deadly

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Nov-21-2005 05:29 Canada

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zoogla
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quote:
Originally posted by VERTiG0
Jessica Biel is a bombshell herself.

Wearing a bikini in Thailand.

Nov-21-2005 05:29

dEsidEL
Fu Man Choonz

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Below the Belt

quote:
Originally posted by AwakenedAddict
Jah, Jessica Biel is deadly

it's called good Christian upbringing

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Nov-21-2005 05:43 Micronesia-Federal State of

nusty
Congrats Andrew/ Hillary!

Registered: Feb 2003
Location: LA and still a little bit of Toronto

quote:
Originally posted by EvilTree
Hmmm... Interesting.

I'd be leery about using against targets with potential civvies in them, then again, the insurgents use civvies as shield. Perfect for taking out bunkers though.

*pift* what do you know about military tactics.

lol. (I'm obiviously kidding)

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