In the movie "Outbreak" With Dustin Hoffman.... (1 Viewer)

[Mark Leiter]

Was the "big bomb" shown in the beggining and ending based on fact? If so how close to the real thing does the movie come to?

 

[LDfan]

What do you mean by the real thing? Are you wondering if bombs like that exsist or are you wondering if there are viruses that are like the one in the movie?
Jeff

 

[Julian Reville]

The "big bomb" was supposed to be a fuel-air bomb, and from what I have heard, they do exist and they are rather powerful. That's all I know about them, sorry.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Isn't this "big bomb" just napalm?
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http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=mport_drivrCasa del Clint

 

[Jay Taylor]

If you’re asking about the existence & capability of fuel-air explosives it is accurate. Fuel-air explosives can be made about as powerful as tactical nuclear weapons but without the radiation or political stigma.
There are numerous articles on fuel-air explosives on the Internet. Here’s one of them:
Link Removed
Jay Taylor

 

[Chris Fondoklis]

No, Napalm is not the same as a Fuel Air Explosive.
Napalm is basically jellied gasoline.
A FAE bursts is mid air and sprays atomized fuel over a given area. It is then ignited. Resulting explosion is many time more powerfull then traditional explosives because
the oxygen required for combustion is obtained from the air and not carried in bomb. Tremendous heat and blast damage.
Hope a few of these are headed where they are needed most now !!

 

[KeithH]

Hope a few of these are headed where they are needed most now !!

Without trying to be political, let's remember that the goal of the current missions is to hit selected Taliban and terrorist targets that have been identified by intelligence. Caution is being exercised as best as possible to avoid civilian casualties. I don't think using a fuel-air bomb on Kabul, Kandahar, etc. would be as selective as we would like, although I could be wrong.
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[Mark Leiter]

Thanks for the link. I was wondering about their existence. When I heard report about the military using those old “bunker busters” from the gulf war started thinking about what one or two of these might do to hasten things along a little.
Not against civilians, but from the looks of things we’re going to be moving on the ground before long and as far as I’m concerned, if you got two fists, why hit with just one?
Just like Teddy used to say; "Step lightly and carry a big(WACK) stick(WACK-WACK)."

 

[Jay Taylor]

Caution is being exercised as best as possible to avoid civilian casualties. I don't think using a fuel-air bomb on Kabul, Kandahar, etc. would be as selective as we would like, although I could be wrong.

I agree. This is not a weapon for downtown Kabul. However they do make smaller 500 lb. versions of this weapon that may be needed in other areas.
Parts of Afghanistan contain some of the heaviest concentrations of land mines in the world. Fuel-air explosives may be one of the best things to clear a mine field without getting anyone killed.
Jay Taylor

 

[Chris Fondoklis]

Of course they should not be used on civilian populations.
As was said, they would be helpful in clearing mines and
if used on any tunnel complexes al Qaeda and bin Laden use, it
would make folks think twice on hiding in tunnels.

 

[JoeStemme]

Re-Watching Wolfgang Petersen's film certainly doesn't play as sci-fi anymore, sadly. What it actually is though is a pure action film. This isn't to say that the screenplay doesn't have a good dramatic plot, but, right from the get-go the emphasis is on making this an action packed thriller. Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo give it some genuine human feeling, but Donald Sutherland and Morgan Freeman are too obviously one-note characters. Cuba Gooding Jr. is decent, as is Kevin Spacey (how odd it is to see him now). OUTBREAK isn't as crafty as Steven Soderbergh's CONTAGION, but, it's an entertaining ride.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

If we are thinking about the same type of bomb, the Russians have them in Ukraine now preparing to use them on the civilian population. It will be extremely unpleasant to die that way.

CNN reported that members of its team had spotted Russian military vehicles fitted with thermobaric rocket launchers near the Ukrainian border.

Vacuum bombs, or thermobaric weapons, work in two stages. Stage one releases a large cloud of combustible material, usually fuel or small metal particles such as aluminium. Stage two triggers an explosion that ignites this material to create a massive fireball and a shock wave.

The effect is like that caused in accidental dust explosions in coal mines or flour mills, where the flammable particles become so dispersed that when they catch fire they generate a huge blast.

Thermobaric weapons are also called vacuum bombs because the explosion sucks up all the oxygen around the device. This process leaves victims close to the explosion unable to breathe, killing them by asphyxiation.