Weapons

Why Doesn't The US Army Develop Thermobaric Weapons?

Why does the US army not develop thermobaric missiles? Because our investigations into thermobaric weapons is that they are cruel and unnecessary. DARPA and the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency, not a typo) did a lot of research into the possibility, but what was discovered is that while the bang was bigger, the weapon itself is… problematic.

The employment of a thermobaric weapon against a population is about half of a war crime. According to the International Comittee of the Red Cross, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has this to say on “Certain weapons”:

Pursuant to Article 8(2)(b)(xx) of the 1998 ICC Statute, the following constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts: Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering [empahsis added]… provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to this Statute. [1]