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Bomb Squads, Setting Off the Bombs
NY Times ^
| August 14, 2005
| WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Posted on 08/14/2005 6:55:11 PM PDT by neverdem
The bombs were identical in size and design: one in a black nylon duffel bag, the other in a black knapsack with grayish trim. Each was made of 10 kilos of powerful commercial explosives - essentially sawdust soaked in nitroglycerine - with nuts and bolts for shrapnel. Left on seats in a commuter rail car, they were detonated almost simultaneously using cellphones.
The explosions ripped into the steel, plastic and fiberglass, sending a deadly shock wave through the passenger compartment and hurtling twisted chunks of metal, debris and tiny bits of the bombs hundreds of feet in every direction. Almost everyone in the rail car should have been killed.
But the bombmaker, like those who worked with him that day, was remarkable because he assembled the explosives to help catch terrorists. An expert bomb investigator, he was helping to train his peers from across the country.
The blast, which took place early this year at the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center in the California desert north of Los Angeles, was observed by dozens of state, local and federal investigators, including the commander of New York Police Department Bomb Squad. It was part of a highly specialized F.B.I. training seminar, a five-day program which is presented several times each year across the country and includes the detonation of a thousand-pound truck bomb. The program helps investigators better understand the awesome power of such devices and, according to the chief trainer, Special Agent Kevin Miles, it teaches them how to piece together a device after an enormous blast and reveal a bombmaker's unique signature. It gives them the confidence to know that they can do their job, he said, to help find the bomber.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Technical; US: California; US: District of Columbia; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; batfe; bombsquad; explosions; fbi; nypd; ohyeah; policedepartment; preparedness; terrorism; training
Catherine Kibby, Bakersfield Police Department Crime Scene Unit
Bomb investigators from around the nation gathered in January for training at the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center in California, using real explosives.
1
posted on
08/14/2005 6:55:13 PM PDT
by
neverdem
To: Squantos; Travis McGee
BANG!
2
posted on
08/14/2005 7:01:15 PM PDT
by
neverdem
(May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
To: neverdem
3
posted on
08/14/2005 7:16:27 PM PDT
by
t_skoz
("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
To: neverdem
Some time in the future there will be carbon black/LOX explosives used: the only forensic traces will be soot and carbon black, not easy to distinguish from other explosion aftereffects.
4
posted on
08/14/2005 7:34:58 PM PDT
by
GSlob
To: Squantos
5
posted on
08/14/2005 7:38:09 PM PDT
by
PoorMuttly
(A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun -T.Jefferson)
To: PoorMuttly
Odd, how I run into the same poeple, on various threads.
6
posted on
08/14/2005 7:41:36 PM PDT
by
patton
("Hard Drive Cemetary" - forthcoming best seller)
To: patton
Muttly always sleeping under the porch of any thread that "go boom."
7
posted on
08/14/2005 7:44:13 PM PDT
by
PoorMuttly
(A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun -T.Jefferson)
To: neverdem
E.O.D. ping (if there is one let me know)
8
posted on
08/14/2005 7:48:13 PM PDT
by
IYAAYAS
(Live free or die trying)
To: PoorMuttly
You probably don't want to admit that to TSA in an aiport. Your milage may vary.
9
posted on
08/14/2005 7:49:27 PM PDT
by
patton
("Hard Drive Cemetary" - forthcoming best seller)
To: patton
Authorities already well aware of innocent little Muttly's interests.
Some of them even converse with him upon occasion. Have lots of fun!
Muttly like boom...and food.....and being hostile to not nice peoples and animals. Hasn't taken many airline trips since particular day, though. Prefer to drive Muttlymobile....and haul far too much equipment with him....just in case.
10
posted on
08/14/2005 8:05:00 PM PDT
by
PoorMuttly
(A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun -T.Jefferson)
To: PoorMuttly
O.K. Waited long enough. Getting hungry...so I'LL do it...:
Someone set us off the Bomb ??!!!!!
(didn't even mention moose or cheese once, so I AM getting better. Except...now REALLY hungry!!!)
Better go outside and blow something up, to take my mind off it.
11
posted on
08/14/2005 8:09:51 PM PDT
by
PoorMuttly
(A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun -T.Jefferson)
To: neverdem
Looks like an Israeli School Bus.
12
posted on
08/14/2005 9:49:49 PM PDT
by
American in Israel
(A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
To: GSlob
Some time in the future there will be carbon black/LOX explosives used: the only forensic traces will be soot and carbon black, not easy to distinguish from other explosion aftereffects.
Why go to something exotic and bulky when there are small, compact and exceptional bang for the buck alternatives? You really want detonation for back/packs not deflagration, which the LOX/carbon gives. For a car bomb, the Kansas City mix is cheaper, more portable and more stable and is a deflagration mix like LOX/Carbon black (which some use as rocket propellants). Plus, the LOX/carbon black mix has been around for a long time and was only used when nitrates were in short supply.
Finally, the last concern of a bomber is worry about the ID of the explosive.
13
posted on
08/15/2005 4:20:31 AM PDT
by
KeyWest
To: KeyWest
Hey, advise the terrorists won't you.
14
posted on
08/15/2005 4:23:33 AM PDT
by
drlevy88
To: KeyWest
IIRC from Stetbacher's book, LOX/carbon black does not deflagrate, but detonates at 4+ miles/second, as good as RDX.
15
posted on
08/15/2005 5:43:22 AM PDT
by
GSlob
To: neverdem
its all happening here, in the desert
China Lake
the place for explosions
and rocket motors
for the last 50 years
16
posted on
08/15/2005 5:57:31 AM PDT
by
kralcmot
(my tagline died with Terri)
To: drlevy88
Hey, advise the terrorists won't you.
They are alredy using these.
17
posted on
08/15/2005 7:52:50 AM PDT
by
KeyWest
To: GSlob
IIRC from Stetbacher's book, LOX/carbon black does not deflagrate, but detonates at 4+ miles/second, as good as RDX.
I stand corrected, but... It looked like deflagration in the several sites I checked, especially since it was used in hobby rockets and compared to nitrate based explosives. Have no idea where I put my Explosives Handbook for Military Use so I could be sure.
There are more than a few explosives if they are compacted and in large quantity shift from deflagration to detonation. So you can have a nitrate based explosive do either and since they seems to come up in relation to LOX/CB, that might also be the case here. Especially since it can be ignited with a flame and most of the sites noted that it is bagged to get good results.
Usually (but not always) detonation is stared with a shock wave, like a blasting cap. Deflagration with a burning front. But, as noted, you can shift from deflagration to detonation.
In any case, my points still stand. It is not the best thing to use in any case.
18
posted on
08/15/2005 8:37:13 AM PDT
by
KeyWest
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