N. Korea fired thermobaric bombs
Attack was designed to cause maximum damage, but equipment was old
…And South Korea’s military concludes the attack was meticulously planned, although much more damage would have been caused if the North’s equipment wasn’t so old and faulty. A high-ranking South Korean military official said that North Korea used thermobaric bombs, or “fuel-air bombs,” to wreak havoc on Yeonpyeong Island, the first time it has done so.
“After examining the collected rounds that fell on the island, we found them to be a variety of special weapons that can burst through concrete and [yield intense explosions],” the official said yesterday. “Upon explosion, these weapons are lethal and can destroy concrete structures with high pressure and heat.”
“It looks like North Korea used thermobaric bombs they’ve been developing for the first time,” said Representative Song Young-sun during a Defense Committee hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday. “Regular shells explode just once, but from footage of the attack, the rounds that were fired exploded twice. This is one characteristic of thermobaric weapons.”
Thermobaric bombs have longer blast waves than regular explosives, and when used in the open air, they can result in increased casualties and more structural damage.The South Korean military is examining around twenty North Korean shells that failed to explode and were found lodged in concrete walls and in tree branches. Eighty of the 170 shells fired managed to land on the island. Roughly 90 rounds fell into the sea.
The number of duds is expected to increase, as troops are still combing the island for shells. South Korean authorities believe the duds and the shells that failed to reach the island were the result of North Korea’s aged equipment or flawed gunpowder and detonators.
Military officials believe North Korea achieved such extensive damage on the island despite the duds and the misses because it meticulously planned the attack. It used “time-on-target” (TOT) coordination, a military tactic in which all the munitions arrive at the same time at a designated target for maximum destruction.