I’ve always wondered why only nuclear bombs detonate before hitting the ground and not the actual moment of impact. Does it affect the amount of damage? or does it reduce nuclear waste and radiation?
In: Physics
Another factor to include alongside the other answers.
A ground-burst means energy is absorbed into the earth, causing a massive crater and destroying everything in line-of-sight, but as mentioned this is limited in range by obstructions. Also that force that pulverises the ground to dust is probably just wasted force (unless you conveniently land it on a shallow-dug, high-priority target) that the Earth easily and readily absorbs. Plus you then kick all that irradiated dust into the air and cause problems from there.
An airburst means the blastwave is not only faced with less obstructions giving it a bigger range, that blastwave will not bury into the earth but instead bounce back off it – giving it greater destructive potential. The blastwave travels much, much further so will give a larger area of destruction (all due to the pressure differences/overpressure), as will the thermal energy from the blast causing more burns at greater distances – again, due to a less obstructed line-of-site.
In short, groundbursts are for pulverising a specific target into oblivion, while an airburst maximises damage and casualties for a wider area.
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