Huge explosion hits front lines north of Kabul

The Associated Press ^ | 10/30/2001 5:20 am ET | The Associated Press

[mdittmar]

JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan (AP) A huge explosion hit the Bagram front lines about 25 miles north of Kabul on Tuesday, sending up a mushroom cloud that billowed at least 1,000 feet into the air.

The origin of the explosion was not immediately clear, since there were no airplanes immediately overhead. However, U.S. planes had roared in the skies over the front lines north of the capital throughout the morning and early afternoon Tuesday.

It was also not clear what positions had been hit by the blast and how extensive the damage was.

[JustAmy]

Sometimes I hate to ask for an explanation, so I wait until I can talk to my son. It is great that FReepers were so eager to answer my question and to do it graciously.

[dglang]

translation not necessary lol

[MHGinTN]

(+) I'm surprised no one has mentioned the display as a fine deterrent for the 'visiting' martyrdom team coming in from Pakistan. A nice FAE field of devastation for the incoming rabble is a great idea ... give them something to think about, just whom it is they are really up against, and whether they intended to die in Afghanistan or just play war. War is about killing the enemy, any way it can be done without killing friendlies, then taking territory. We don't want or need the territory, but the friendlies in the North and not so friendlies walkin' in from Pakistan need to understand our capabilities. I want them to fear our ruthlessness and our wrath ... if they still choose to have it rain down on them, send them to Hell and be done with it, we've got other perps to fry.

[mad_as_he$$]

Now thats a fun toy. We used them in Nam for instant drop zones.

[Republic of Texas]

No planes were visible, so it could have been released by a B-2 or B-52 from miles away.

[scannell]

This is as it should be, and as it should have been from day one.

Probably GW found that Clinton had cut the budget on the bombs and he had to order some of these FAE's before we could use them.

[dglang]

general reply to all. i've attacherd a link to an article about the blu-82, it as follows and I hope the link works, first time attempt. BLU-82 data

the purpose of the parachute is threefold:

1, stabilize the descent of the bomb keeping the probe/trigger pointed down

2, slow the descent to keep the bomb from burying itself in the ground.

3, retard the forward motion to allow for a straight downward descent thereby preventing overshooting.

[Born to Conserve]

"...fuel air bomb, which can flatten a 10 sq. km. area...

Um, no, it can't.

[dglang]

They were usually taken from cameras with telephoto lens mounted on towers a distance away. Please notice that I said 'no one' nearby meaning people.

[Flint]

Have you heard any mention of the Stealt Fighter in this war? Hummmmm? Just because you can't see it does not mean it isn't there.

[blaster88]

So much misinformation, so little time.

The cloud is probably the result of a 2000 pounder hitting a fuel depot.

FAE's and BLU-82's are probably not being used. Neither produces a lot of frag, and its important to remember, bombs don't kill people, frag kills people. The BLU-82 was dropped to impress the Iraqi's - they were told to look out in the desert and see the biggest non-nuclear bomb in our arsenal, then told the next one would fall on their location. An entire battalion surrendered and gave over a lot of maps of mine fields. An astounding psyops/intel victory.

FAE's and cheeseburgers (another nickname for BLU-82) are nowhere near the explosive power of "even our smallest nukes." Published figures for some tac nukes show the smallest yield is .1 kt - that's 100 tons equivalent of TNT. 200,000 pounds. A BLU-82 is about 13,000 lbs of explosive, and FAE equivalents, even for the big ones, aren't that high.

[Born to Conserve]

Fuel Air Explosive do act as Explosives. The bomb package releases a carefully engineered vapor/air column. A detonator at the back/top of the column sends a spray of incendiary projectiles through the column toward the target at the perfect speed to propigate a shock wave so intense that it can collapse underground bunkers. I saw footage of tests broadcast during Desert Storm where you could actually see the shock wave traveling down from the column of burnt fuel/air (which was well above the ground). The shock was not visable by the fog you often see with shock waves, it was visable because the wave acted like a lens -- the air was that much more dense than the air around it.

Does anyone know where that footage could be found?

[Eagle9]

We don't want or need the territory, but the friendlies in the North and not so friendlies walkin' in from Pakistan need to understand our capabilities. I want them to fear our ruthlessness and our wrath ... if they still choose to have it rain down on them, send them to Hell and be done with it, we've got other perps to fry.

Yeah, a series of FAE drops in the areas that they'd be most effective, and even the 15,000 lb. conventional explosive Daisycutters, would definitely serve a deterrent to those new volunteers, as well as lessen their numbers. I always used cluster rounds (artillery) whenever possible, due to the widespead effect. The U.N. doesn't like cluster rounds/bombs or FAEs, but we didn't start this and should ignore the U.N. Just do what is necessary.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

"...our ruthlessness and our wrath."

Right on! I want to HEAR and SEE much more of this.

"O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matthew 3:7.

[Cobra64]

Don't these bombs also suck all the air out of the area. Great weapon for killing a large gathering of troops.

We used a number of these during the Gulf War on Hussein's Republican Guard. Yes, they do remove all oxygen, and those not blown up from the blast, explode from air leaving their lungs to fill the vacuum left by the FAE.

[Eagle9]

Thanks for the link.

I overestimated the length of the extension on the nose of the bomb .. been a long time. I've described that blast (see reply 132) to a few people and it'll be good to have that link to give some idea, at least.

[pollwatcher]

Can we send something like FAE on top / into Osama's caves?

[Eagle9]

Can we send something like FAE on top / into Osama's caves?

The use of an FAE on caves would be highly dependent on the caves' locations, regarding elevation and surrounding terrain, and also the depth/length of the cave itself. Given the right conditions, I'd think that an FAE could be effective, either by the heat/flame exposure, or the shockwave (cave-in and landslides), or possibly the vacuum effect drawing all oxygen from the cave. But I'm no expert on FAEs. Others, here at FR, would be more qualified to answer your question. I'm more familiar with conventional explosive rounds/bombs used in the era that I was in the Army.

[Just_de_facts]

Correctomundo. The BLU-82 is filled with GSX explosive at about 12,600 lbs. The FAE bombs, the BLU-75,76,77 are
fuel bombs of varying payloads. I know it sounds cryptic to say this, but we now have non-nuclear ordnance that greatly
exceeds the destructive power of either of these bomb types. I think we may see a display ,later in the war, if the Taliban
becomes too entrenched in the terrain.