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.

[cajungirl]

I just love bomb talk. And this is the best place to learn about something I never thought about. I see why guys love the service. And I too want them to tremble when they think of us, to shake in their boots, to be afraid to ever cross the US again. Fear is all they understand, fear, power and death. The taliban are animals and need extermination. And I do hope we don't do here what happened in Viet Nam. I always thought with the gloves off we could have won that war, whatever that would have meant. It seems so long ago until I read what people say they saw there.

[E.Allen]

People are confusing two different types of ordnance, the 15,000lb (7 1/2 ton) bombs, are definitely NOT a FAE. They are normally dropped out the back of a C-130 cargo plane by deploying a parachute in flight that is attached to a cradle the bomb is setting on. The parachute drags the bomb out the rear cargo door. This type was used with a fuse extender to create an instant LZ in Viet Nam. It uses a filling of high explosive, about 12,500lbs. This thing is BIG, about the size of a car.

The FAE is MUCH lighter and smaller, one type is 550lbs. It can also use a fuse extender to achieve detonation mere feet above ground. These are carried on a much wider range of aircraft. The FAE does pack a large punch and creates a very large pressure wav capable of collapsing some structures.

Check out FAS.org- for more info

[dglang]

I think your reply was ment for someone other than me. I mentioned nothing about the size of the cloud and did not equate the effect or size of nukes vs FAE's.

During the Gulf war, we dropped 17 BLU-82s, not just one. They weren't for psychological effect only, they are extremely deadly on exposed troops.

Consider that a troop wearing a flak jacket, steel helmet and hiding in a fox hole or deep trench will be fairly well sheltered from shrapnel flying parallel to the ground. From the effects of the FAE bomb, all three of those defenses are useless. Even if he isn't severely burned, the internal damage will be very severe and most likely terminal from both the blast pressure and the following vacuum.

[Born to Conserve]

The possibilities are endless. I was wondering if they have considered using multiple GPS guided munitions to hit targets with a well choreographed strike. If they could time the individule bombs to hit at just the right time and in just the right place, they could play with the shockwaves and resonences of the terrain, pruducing the jello effect seen in earthquakes.

I wish there was an munitions channel on cable.

[phasma proeliator]

Thank YOU!.... it was getting "out of hand".

[RightWhale]

Don't these bombs also suck all the air out of the area

If the aerosol dispersal is correct, all the oxygen inside the fireball will be consumed. In a way this is opposite to ordinary high explosives which add significant air [mostly nitrogen compounds] to the air, suddenly, causing a local excess.

[paulsy]

"HTBB" (high tech bully bump)

[paulsy]

The latest styatement is that the blast was a suicide bomber instructing the rest of he cell on how to use the device. He said he was only going to show them ONCE.

this should be a comic strip script

[Poohbah]

"Allegedly" dangerous to our own guys?

There is a video out there of a Davy Crockett being fired from a Jeep at Yucca Flats, Nevada. The launcher was at 45 degrees, ensuring maximum range.

The round was fired...the blinding flash followed...and the Jeep was picked up like a Matchbox toy car and tossed about a quarter mile before it bounced...yeah, I'd feel REAL comfy shooting that thing off...

[blaster88]

I just click Post Reply on whatever the last post is, so nothing against whoever gets my replies.

At any rate, I think that the mushroom cloud I saw on Fox this morning was the result of a fairly conventional bomb (laser or GPS guided) hitting fuel.

Troops get dumb bombs with proximity fuses. FAE's have their uses, and I've seen the infamous monkey films, but the overpressure range on the FAE is relatively small, and may not be all that useful in labyrinthine tunnels carved in stone.

[paulsy]

how far were you from 270?

[Redcloak]

There have been a number of good responses to your question. Have you ever heard of a grain elevator explosion? In that case, grain dust suddenly burns. All of the dust burns at once producing an explosion. Now imagine using fuel instead and doing it deliberately. That is what a fuel-air bomb is. Several hundren pounds of highly volatile fuel is sprayed by a small charge into a cloud of fine mist. Each droplet in the cloud has plenty of oxygen in contact with it as a detonator goes off. All of the fuel burns in one instant. It's the next best thing to nuclear!

[blaster88]

A cool link about BLU-82

[Dan Day]

"...Nuclear explosions don't leave much room for doubt. ..." I feel the same way. If you have to ask,"Hey, was that a nuke?" Then it wasn't. If it was a nuke, you would say, "HEY, THAT WAS A NUKE !"

Not true, actually. Nukes range over an incredible range of yields, with the smallest being no more powerful than about 5 OKC bombings. It would be hard to distinguish from a big conventional explosion.

[Dan Day]

If it was a nuke, there would be no one nearby able to ask what it was.

No, you're thinking of the big fusion bombs.

Smaller atomic bombs are hardly as universally devastating. For example, a 1-kiloton atomic bomb is reasonably survivable at a distance of only one mile.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

If they have someone watching FOXNEWS they have seen the discussion of the importance of controlling the ridges overlooking the low plains at Mazar-al-Sherif (Sp?) from the Retired Air Force General that often discusses war progress with Britt Hume.

[SuziQ]

The origin of the explosion was not immediately clear, since there were no airplanes immediately overhead.

Maybe the planes which had bombed earlier had hit something starting a fire which later lit off a Taliban ammo dump. That would make for a fine fireworks show, don't ya think?

[Dan Day]

Isn't this the bomb they were talking about using in the movie "Outbreak"?

Yes.

[Movemout]

I used the "allegedly dangerous" description because I was a young private coming into the unit as the rounds were going out. That was the description used by some crusty old artillery sergeant. I assumed he knew of that which he spoke. I never saw the video but it is a certainty that the weapon was retired.