In its fight against Russian invaders, Ukraine seems to be deploying a fleet of fire-spewing "dragon drones," a contemporary take on a weapon that was used horrifyingly in both world wars.
Thermite, a white-hot combination of iron oxide and aluminum powder, burns at temperatures as high as 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees Celsius). If not completely destroy or incapacitate the Russian troops, it can swiftly burn down trees and other vegetation that provide cover for them.
The drones get their moniker from the thermite that falls from them, which resembles fire emerging from the mouth of a mythical dragon.
A social media post from Ukraine's 60th Mechanized Brigade stated, "Strike Drones are our wings of vengeance, bringing fire straight from the sky!"
"Burning his positions with an accuracy no other weapon can achieve, they become a real threat to the enemy," the post went on.
"The Russian woman will never sleep when our 'Vidar' is working," it continued. The Norse god of vengeance is called Vidar.
The main effect of Ukraine's thermite drones, in the opinion of land warfare-specialist defense industry analyst Nicholas Drummond (a former British Army officer), is probably to create that kind of fear.
It's really disgusting stuff. It's pretty inventive that it will be delivered by drone. However, Drummond told CNN that if it had been used that way, the impact would have been more psychological than physical.
He remarked, "I realize that Ukraine can only produce a thermite effect to a limited extent, so this is a niche capability rather than new mainstream weapon."
However, he concedes that thermite can be terrifying.
Drummond remarked, "I would not have liked to have been on the receiving end."
Flaming weapons in warfare
There isn't much protection from thermomite because it can burn through practically anything, including metal.
It was first used to weld railroad tracks when it was discovered in the 1890s by a German chemist.
A history from McGill University in Montreal states that during World War I, the Germans dropped it from zeppelins as bombs over Britain, demonstrating its military potency.
During World War II, thermite was employed by both Germany and the Allies in their aerial bombs. It was also used to disable captured artillery pieces by inserting the explosive into the breech and melting the weapon shut from the inside out.
Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a British advocacy group against war, claims that Ukraine has already used drone-dropped thermite to permanently disable Russian tanks.
As per the AOAV report, the thermite is released "straight through the hatches, where the intense heat quickly ignites and destroys everything inside."
It states that "thermite bombs are a highly effective tool in modern warfare because of their precision and drone's ability to bypass traditional defenses."
Incendiary weapons come in various forms; some examples are napalm and white phosphorus, among others, like thermite.
Incendiary weapons have the potential to cause enormous destruction as well as environmental harm, according to the UN Office for Disarmament.
It is challenging to anticipate and put out fires that are started by or produced by the weapon itself. Consequently, because of their wide-ranging effects, incendiary weapons are frequently referred to as "area weapons," according to their website.
In the infamous Tokyo fire raids of World War II, the United States destroyed a large portion of Japan's capital with napalm. It was also widely used by US forces in Vietnam.
The US Army's Pine Bluff Arsenal manufactured the weaponry from the 1960s through 2014 before starting up again in 2023. The US military has also used thermite in grenades.
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