An air burst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target or a delayed armor piercing explosion. Aerial bursts may also arise from the explosion, above the ground, of incoming self-detonating meteoroids as some postulate happened in the Tunguska event.
The principal military advantage of an air burst over a ground burst is that the energy from the explosion (as well as any shell fragments) is distributed more evenly over a wider area; however, the peak energy is lower at ground zero.
Other articles related to "air burst, air, air bursts, burst":
... are set for airburst, meaning that they explode in the air above the target instead of upon impact ...
... The S T Daewoo K11 DAW (Dual-barrel Air-burst Weapon) is an assault rifle chambered to fire 5.56x45mm NATO rounds, as well as 20x30mm air-burst smart grenade from its ... few meters from the target, yielding an air burst effect capable of killing targets within a 6 m area and seriously wounding those within a 8 m area ...
... Air bursts are used primarily against infantry in the open or unarmored targets, as the resulting fragments cover a large area but will not penetrate armor, entrenchments, or fortifications ...
... of arrival being dependent on the speed of sound in air in their area, there would be more than ample amounts of time to take the prompt ... To maximize building damage, an air-burst is the preferred nuclear fuzing height, which maximizes surface damage and results in fallout being dispersed into the ... For example in the Operation Crossroads tests of 1946, Test Able (an air burst) had little local fallout, but the infamous Test Baker (an underwater burst) left ...
Famous quotes containing the words burst and/or air:
“So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamor
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.”
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“Our air up here is good for the disease—I mean good against the disease,... but it is also good for the disease.”
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