Posted on 11/05/2001 5:47:46 PM PST by Lady In Blue
Nov 5, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - With its use of the 15,000-pound "daisy cutter" bomb in Afghanistan, the United States has unleashed one of its most powerful weapons - billed as the world's largest conventional bomb.
The BLU-82 combines a watery mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminum with air, then ignites the mist for a huge explosion that incinerates everything within up to 600 yards. The shock wave can be felt miles away.
The BLU-82 uses about six times the amount of ammonium nitrate explosive that Timothy McVeigh used in the bomb that blew up the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.
First created during the Vietnam War to quickly clear jungle landing zones, the daisy cutter also was used against Iraqi troops during the Gulf War. Reports from the ground in Afghanistan indicate the huge bombs have been used against front-line Taliban positions.
The bombs cost about $27,000 each. They are dropped from a C-130 cargo plane flying at least 6,000 feet off the ground, to avoid the bomb's massive shock wave. Each is more than 17 feet long and 5 feet in diameter - about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle but far heavier.
AP-ES-11-05-01 2047EST
This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA6ASS1PTC.html
Delta 21
Yes!
Nitrating the pig fat would give it some zip, though. You could stencil a catchy slogan on the side of the bomb that could say, "The nitroglycerine in this bomb was made from contented pigs."
Well... I'm willing to chip in $20 toward a FreeRepublic sponsered one. Anyone else?
Don't know how many times this post-season I saw him shake his head at called third strikes out over the plate.
Sounds like a winner to me.
http://classicrockr.freeyellow.com/Animations/unclesam1.gif
Good-on-you, cobber, but I vote for the B-56 Buick Roadmaster, truly so big and heavy, that each time ya stop for gas, ya just scrape the Toyotas and Hondas out of the wheel-wells!....FRegards
Looks like the reporter is confusing the BLU-82 with a fuel-air explosive.
The BLU-82 does contain a semi-liquid explosive, but it is *not* "mixed with air" and it does *not* involve "igniting a mist" like the fuel-air bomb does.
The explosive is simply detonated in the bomb casing like almost any other conventional bomb -- albeit a VERY LARGE one.
What a shame! ;)
The 22,000lb Grand Slam 'Earthquake' bomb, could only be carried by the Avro Lancaster. No.617 Squadron was the only Lancaster squadron to carry the few of these weapons available before the end of the war. On 27th April 1945, 115 Lancasters attacked the U-boat shelters at Garge on the Weser River and, of the 12 Grand Slam bombs dropped, two penetrated the 23ft (7 metre) thick concrete roof as others weakened the foundations with their shockwaves and the whole area collapsed.
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