PING.......
Posted on 11/08/2004 11:22:55 AM PST by areafiftyone
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Air Force built a weapon so big it was nicknamed "Mother of All Bombs" on the eve of the war with Iraq, but MOAB would be dwarfed by a much larger munition now under study.
The proposed Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, would weigh 30,000 pounds, nearly 40 percent more than the 21,000 pound MOAB -- officially Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- that never saw combat. MOAB, on the other hand, explodes just above the ground. It is a larger version of the BLU-84 "Daisy Cutter" that was used during the Vietnam War to blast out helicopter landing zones in jungle areas.
The 15,000-pound Daisy Cutter also was dropped during the 1991 Persian Gulf War to clear minefields and more recently to blast caves believed to be hiding terrorists in Afghanistan. MOAB can be against similar targets and structures or vehicles susceptible to surface blast damage. Both also are seen as psychological weapons that can demoralize an enemy.
During the next 16 months the Munitions Directorate at this Florida Panhandle base will look at everything from MOP's shape to its guidance. The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency is providing $500,000 in initial research money.
If the project gets beyond the initial research and development phase, MOP probably won't see its first armed drop until 2006 or later.
MOP would have inertial and satellite guidance, just like MOAB, but it would have a more slender shape so it could be dropped from high altitude by a B-52 or a B-2 stealth bomber.
The Daisy Cutter and MOAB are too bulky to be carried by sleek bombers and must be pushed out of the rear door of lower-flying and slower cargo planes.
You couldn't drop a bomb that big from either aircraft! The bays are too small.
Why not just drop Michael Moore and be done with it.
Cool! Any pics?
Sounds like the Lawn Dart from Hell.
Dear Iran - please take note.
It's has to be a external centerline bomb. It may also need a
unique ejector rack.
That sounds like just the tool we need to clear some of those big Iraqi ammo dumps.
Who's your daddy?
PING.......
They could push it out the tail of a C-17.
Well, getting blown into plasmatic tiny bits would certainly demoralize me!
btt
Nice to know my beloved BLU-"82" has grown to "84"........:o)
Presstitutes suck !
It's still not as big of a bomb as "Alfie." ;)
30,000 / 21,000 = 1.42857, or about 43% more.
I suppose 43% is "nearly 40%" more, in journalism school...
You couldn't mount a bomb that big on the centerline of any current US bomber (not enough clearance). I don't know of any aircraft, other than a transport, that could carry it.
Better Living through Mayhem...
Always been my motto...
How about a test drop on the main mosque in Fallujah?
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