Vietnam War: Forest Fire as a Military Weapon - Paperless Archives

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SECRET The advantages of multiple ignition are shown even more clearly in Figure 4A which shows the type of fire that can be expected for any combination of Nominal Incendiary Spacing and Intensity Factor. Operation Hot Tip, which spaced incendiaries at nearly optimum distances, came much closer to achieving a crown fire (in fact, 17 percent of the area'did crown out)than did the single ignitions of the U Minh forest, even though U Minh burned under weather conditions 4 times as facorable for fire spread. Incendiary Devices The proper spacing of incendiary sets is much more critical to the success of forest burning operations than is the the type of device used to produce ignition. But there are certain optimum criteria to be considered in selecting(or tdesigning) incendiary ordnance for use over forests. These criteria differ in several respects from those used to optimize the results of attacks on buildings or personnel. For use on structures, an incendiary needs sufficient weight and strength to penetrate the roof (and upper floors of multi-story structures), and a suffit-iently high heat output to ignite materials within a room even though the incendiary filling does not come into direct contact with easily ignitable material. This requires a relatively high weight, high strength casing with a high heat output filling. For anti-personnel pumoses the weapon should maximize radiant heat output. This requires an incendiary that produces a large volume of flame with a rapid combustion rate and high flame temperature. Initiation of forest fire,, is a different problem. In the outdoors, most of the convective and radiative heat from large, intense, incendiaries i6 lost to the surroundings, and only flames in contact with the fuel produce ignition. An old and proven ru!e of thumb is that fire will not spread in a litter fuel if it cannot be ignited by a well-placed kitchen match. Small scattered flames are therefore much more effective than large radiant heat sources in starting fires in forest litter. As a practical matter, ignition of forest litter is most readily accomplished by small, cluster-type incendiary weapons designed for direct flame contact with the fuel. Table I I lists the thermal properties of common incendiary fillings. This table shows why napalm, developed as an anti-personnel incendiary, has been notoriously unsuccessful in starting forest fires. Not only does napalm have the lowest burning rate per square foot of coverage of any common filling, but the material boils off from the covered surface at temperatures below that at which it ignites.Thus, napalm produces a large volume of flame, but the flaming starts at some distance above the fuel surface. Even PT-|, the best of the petroleum-based fillings from the standpoint of forest ignition, has a significant fraction of volatiles whose distillation temperatures are below ignition temperature. The ideal incendiary device for forest burning operations would be a cluster of a great many light-weight, unarmoured, low-volatile devices. The experimental CBU53-54B series should be a great improvement over existing munitions for use over forests Table I I Heat Value Ignition To Distillation TO Burning Rate Flame Tr Agent 1000 Btu./lb. OF. Initial (OF.) End Point lb./ft. 'Min. OF. I Napalm B 19.0 825 95 390 .05- .2 3140 JP - 4 18.6 470 325 450 .1 - .4 2640 PT- I 13.7 510 370 680 .3 - .7 2400 Magnesium 11.8 1000 1100 - .9 -1.4 2400 White Phosphorus 10.6 34 280 .2 - .4 - I ~SECRET 7
SECRET F IG .44 EXPECTED FIRE BEHAVIOR 1000 600 400 h- 200 FIRESTORM POSSIBLE o un 100 Sz . 40 60 CROWN FIRE-- -MAX. ,- 20 ZO--U. MINH f I HOT TIP X•" 0 MIN. "RUNNING SURFACE FIRE •. 2 GROU1ND FIRE X PR 11 S1.0o 1.0 2 3 4 5 INTENSITY FACTOR SECRET 72
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VIETNAM WAR Forest Fire as a Milita
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Forest Fire as a Military Weapon A
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OF7 A iD5S Hil'---0 __ = IIIII- _w
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SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WE
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SECRET INDEX (Continued) Page Weath
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SECRET FOREST FIRE AS A MILITARY WE
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SECRET detailed and timely intellig
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SECRET I I I i it FI.I FIG. 2 I I B
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I SECRET I I I I I S....... '•FIG
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SECRET FI.I TYIAIRONFR BEOR FIG.FIG
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SECRET REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL
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I I SECRET heating adjacent unburne
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I SECRET FUEL TYPE 8o e1 82 83 84 I
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I SECRET I ii 11 I S~FIG. 17 | GRAS
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I I SECRET I I FIG. 18 SHRUB TYPE I
Page 32 and 33: Relative Humidity SECRET Table 2 "S
Page 34 and 35: I U I I I I I SECRET I FIG. 21 CONI
Page 36 and 37: S~SECRET A I. B O I I I IB. IN O LE
Page 38 and 39: I I SECRET I- I I I I I I I FIG. EV
Page 40 and 41: SECRET In developing recommended pr
Page 42 and 43: U SECRET The yearly sums of (+) val
Page 44 and 45: I Fireclimate Classification SECRET
Page 46 and 47: SECRET TABLE 5 KEY TO IDENTIFICATIO
Page 48 and 49: SECRET SHumid, long bum season (HUL
Page 50 and 51: I SECRET Table 6 Surfac,,/Volume Ra
Page 52 and 53: I SECRET FIG. 29 AVAILABLE FUEL WEI
Page 54 and 55: SECRET 100 80 FIG. 31 FLAME HEIGHTS
Page 56 and 57: I SECRET I Table 7 Precipitation Ef
Page 58 and 59: I SECRET FIG. 32 EQUILIBRIUM MOI$TU
Page 60 and 61: •Sunshine: SECRET Solar radiation
Page 62 and 63: I I SECRET I Ii I II I g I FIG. 34
Page 64 and 65: Technique"s for Kdlin, D•rming an
Page 66 and 67: SECRET I t '4Pi I I FIG. 35 * AERIA
Page 68 and 69: SECRET FIG.36 EFFECTS OF OVERSTORY
Page 70 and 71: SECRET FIG. 37 TYPICAL EFFECT OF CO
Page 72 and 73: I .SECRET Use of Systemic Desiccant
Page 74 and 75: SECRET 6. Effectiveness of foliar s
Page 76 and 77: SECRET Example of a Desiccation Pla
Page 78 and 79: SECRET If a lighted match is droppe
Page 80 and 81: SECRET 0 0 ----- 0" E I- -- z -- o
Page 84 and 85: SECRET DISCUSSION The deliberate in
Page 86 and 87: 1 SECRET U MINH FOREST FIRES PROLOG
Page 88 and 89: SECRET Spread Analysis: Spread to K
Page 90 and 91: SECRET HEADQUARTERS US ARMY ADVISOR
Page 92 and 93: I SECRET MACV-IVC-2 24 May 1968 SUB
Page 94 and 95: SECRET NAVAL GUNFIRE MISSIONS DATE
Page 96 and 97: SECRET Rach Gia - Kien Giang Hourly
Page 98 and 99: SECRET APPENDIX B Pertinent Incendi
Page 100 and 101: SECRET Major vegetation type: Tropi
Page 102 and 103: SECRET CLIMATE FF-HUSB FROSTFREE WI
Page 104 and 105: SECRET FIG. B2 CLIMATE FF-HUSB HANO
Page 106 and 107: SECRET Soil appiicat ion: Apply 20
Page 108 and 109: SECRET CLIMATE FF-NHLB FROSTFREE WI
Page 110 and 111: SECRET CLIMATE FF-DRYL FROSTFREE WI
Page 112 and 113: SECRET CLIMATE MI-HUYL MILD WINTER;
Page 114 and 115: SECRET FIG. B6 CLIMATE MI-HUYL NEW
Page 116 and 117: SECRET Soil application: Apply 15 p
Page 118 and 119: SECRET CLIMATE MI-HULB MILD WINTER;
Page 120 and 121: SECRET FCa. W8 CLIMATE MI-HULB RHOD
Page 122 and 123: SECRET FIG. B9 CLIMATE MI-NHSB AUST
Page 124 and 125: SECRET Dates for examl ocationAU.s
Page 126 and 127: SECRET CLIMATE MI-DRYL MILD WINTER;
Page 128 and 129: * climates& j SECRET CLIMATE CL-HUY
Page 130 and 131: SECRET FIG. 512 CLIMATE CL-HUYL COL
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SECRET Dates for example location (
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SECRET t (IIMATI (L HILD ('(X)I WIN
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SECRET (1lMAU- (L NH.% 41()1. *INTI
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I SECRET (IIM-AIF ( Hl•Nt1 ( Wl W
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SECRET FIG. 816 CLIMATE CL-NHLB GRA
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SECRET FIG. 817 CLIMATE CL-DRYL LAS
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Foliar sTray: Apply per acre: SECRE
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Warm continental climates SECRET CL
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SECRET FIG. B19 CLIMATE SC-HUSB MT.
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SECRET Dates for cxampre location (
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SECRET CLIMATE SC-NHYL SHORT COLD W
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SECRET FIG. B21 CLIMATE SC-NHYL PAR
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SECRET FIG. 522 CLIMATE SC-NHSB SAN
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SECRET FIG. 823 CLIMATE SC-NHLB REN
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SECRET Foliar Žpxa: Apply per acre
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SECRET CLIMATE LC-HUSB LONG COLD WI
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SECRET Foliar spray: Apply during t
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"SECRET CLIMATE LC-NHLB LONG COLD W
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SECRET CLIMATE VC-HUYL VERY COLD WI
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I SECRET FIG. 827 CLIMATE VC-HUYL D
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SECRET "CLIMATE VC-NHSB VERY COLD W
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SECRET I Publiction-,: Protect EMOT
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