Detonated car bomb
The Car Bomb, or Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device, is an IED vehicle packed with enough dynamite to level a city block with a simple click of a remote detonator. It was the Explosive Weapon of the Medellin Cartel.
Description[]
The car bomb is simply an everyday car filled with gasoline and dynamite and detonated remotely. Some suicide bombers would drive the car and detonate it while driving at its target. The amount of bombs vary from a few dozen pounds to half a ton, but technically any amount of explosions that can fit in the car would work. If attempting to assassinate the car's owner; it is possible to create a triggering mechanism that is activated when the car's driver uses their keys, opens the door, presses on the pedals, ect...
Stats[]
- Frag Radius: 100 yards (varies)
- Dynamite: 40 lbs (varies)
- Remote detonator, manual or timed detonation
History[]
The car bomb has long been used by terrorists wanting to place a significant amount of explosives in a crowded place without drawing unwanted attention. The Medellin Cartel frequently used them as a way of causing widespread damage to demonstrate their power. It has also been used by other terrorists like Taliban, Viet Cong, Somali Pirates and IRA.
Use By The Medellin Cartel[]
The city of Medellin saw a peak of car bombings primarily between 1988 and 1993, with most bombings being conducted by the Medellin Cartel.
It was not uncommon for the Cartel to hire homeless people to drive stolen cars across the city, only for the Cartel to detonate a car bomb that the driver was oblivious to.
The most famous Medelin Cartel car bomb instance occurred on December 6, 1989, when a car loaded with 1,100 lbs of explosives was detonated outside of the DAS headquarters in downtown Bogota, Columbia. Over 50 were killed, with more than 600 more injured, and destroying over 300 commercial properties.
Test[]
For the sake of maintaining a fair and realistic match, and to avoid the cartel members to get constantly killed by their own explosion, only 40 lbs were used on Deadliest Warrior. This is still realistic and still the largest explosive weapon on the show yet.
Deadliest Warrior[]
While the car bomb is only an official weapon of the Medellin Cartel, a scene from the episode "IRA vs. Taliban", two IRA soldiers place a nail bomb under a British man's car, turning it into a car bomb. In fact a large nail bomb can deliver a similar amount of damage compared to the TNT carbomb.
The hosts of Deadliest Warrior mentioned multiple times that the power of a car bomb needs to compensate for the obvious weaknesses of positioning and safety. Having a larger car bomb would just kill everyone in the battle, including the bombers. Placing a carbomb or luring enemies to it is also difficult to do if already engaged in a battle; hence why historically, the majority of bombers relied on hiding their identity to perform an ambush. The RPG-7 Rocket Launcher meanwhile is a weapon that can be fired safely at a distance and aim at the target; despite its smaller destructive force, it is more effective in an active firefight.
Footage of Taliban suicide bombers and planning behind carbombings [1] [2]
Test[]
The car bomb was pitted against the RPG-7 of the Somali Pirates. A car bomb packed with 40 lbs of explosives was demonstrated and obliterated all targets and surrondings. The RPG-7 was tested against a shack with a guard in it; it completely destroyed the shack and massacered the target. Despite the fact that the RPG-7 was portable and could be fired repeatedly at a distance, the edge was given to the car bomb for its better chance at killing multiple targets with its larger explosive payload.
Trivia[]
- The car bomb is seen in archive footage used by the IRA to assassinate a target.