U.S. Uses Huge Bomb Against Taliban Forces

Associated Press ^ | November 5, 2001 | staff

[Lady In Blue]

Nov 5, 2001

U.S. Uses Huge Bomb Against Taliban Forces

The Associated Press

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

[MistrX]

There are many operable airliners mothballed in the southwestern states. Surely we could install some extra fuel tanks inside the planes, equip them with remote controls and fly them right into cave openings. A video camera and transmitter mounted in the nose would provide amazing footage.

[Poohbah]

"First off, FAE weapons predate Vietnam."

Who pioneered their development, Nazi Germany?

No, the U.S. Navy in the early 1960s.

"First operational employment was in Vietnam."

Where they very effective? I've been lead to believe that it is the Russians during the 70's who made the weapon of great utility value.

Well, there are a fair number of VC buried in their own tunnels, tunnels that SMOOSHED them when a FAE went off overhead and squashed everything within the blast radius.

[oust the louse]

The bombs cost about $27,000 each.....I'll take 3.I live in a mountain cave in afganastan...just drop em by when you can.My names Ben..Ben Laden.

[Poohbah]

Poohbah, BTW, I read in another similar article that this was a fuel air explosive. In fact, I recall rightwing2 stating the same. Is either article wrong or is it a matter of arcane armament science differences?

Both articles are wrong--the BLU-82 is an ammonium nitrate (nitrates are cheaper than day rates :o) device, with aluminum powder mixed in for some flavor (when the aluminum oxidizes burns in the explosion, it adds a lot of heat energy to the total "energy budget"). A FAE bomb sprays an aerosolized liquid (gasoline is a classic FAE producer, but most bombs use some other hydrocarbon) into the air and ignites the vapor cloud.

[bray]

If it doesn't kill you, your ears will be ringing for like an eternity. Completely make you useless for answering phones or playing the chimes.

Pray for GW and our Troops!

[Kale]

Why dont we take 1000 of those suckers and do this: Use 500 on the 500 most likely places Osama is in Afgahnistan. For psyops effect: Drop 100 in a desolate circle around Baghdad. Tell the Iraquis to get rid of Saddam or they will get closer every day. Do the same to Damascus and to the PLO. Lets take care of this all at once.

[Helms]

What exactly DID YOU SEE, especially at Orient Bay?

[Kermit]

Whoa! Who's the guy in the white Chevy Cavalier? He sure got his money's worth for that front row seat.

[Kermit]

It's about half of a fully-loaded Lexus.;^)

[GVnana]

Buy Our Boys a Bomb!

Compliments of Freerepublic.com

[river rat]

"thus far this war has been a dismal failure.

RoarNLion! Your choice of name is a joke.... You squeal like a frightened little girl, not a lion.

Tell me, you freaking genius.... Why is it a failure?

The civilized world is united against the murdering bastards that declared war against America and murdered close to 5000 civilians. Now - we are killing the radical bastards at will.

Would you prefer Blow Job Clinton's technique of dealing with terrorists (hiding) --- or do you propose surrender to these backward and murderous bastards?

How about it Genius ---- what do you propose?
What solutions do the wacky "peace at any price crowd" offer?
Semper Fi

[wretchard]

I stand corrected. It is .05 KT. The data on FAEs can be obtained by doing a google search on theremobaric or FAE weapons.

[rightwing2]

I just attended the AUSA seminar on the Objective Force in Washington, DC and heard from the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army. At one eight general officer led panel, it was disclosed that the Russkies have developed a thermobaric rocket grenade launcher known as the RPG-29. The South Africans made reference to this weapon when I visited Pretoria, but did not have a classification of type. As you might imagine, the RPG-29 packs quite a punch and is undoubtedly the most powerful and destructive man portable weapon in existance. They also spoke of some of the capabilities of the T-95 which include the ability to penetrate 1000mm of armor and the ability to score kills from a distance of 5-12KM with its BLOS (beyond line of sight) capability. Pretty amazing capabilities if you ask me.

[Poohbah]

re: RPG-29. Great, just what a grunt needs, a weapon to lug around that can only be used when there's no wind whatsoever (any breeze will dissipate the vapor).

Re: T-95 BLOS capability. You tell me where in the world you can actually SEE and IDENTIFY another tank at 12,000 meters. Absent a robust C4ISR grid to support it with engagement-quality data, that's a wasted capability. If the C4ISR grid exists, it isn't ENOUGH capability (I want to wipe the SOB out at 50 to 100 kilometers).

Penetrate 1,000 millimeters--a meter--of RHA? THAT, good sir, is why the tank is becoming obsolete--we're running out of ways to stick enough armor onto the tank.

The next generation of "AFVs" are going to have to rely on other means for protection besides slabs of armor, unless you want a tank that can only be used as a pillbox.

[R. Scott]

They sound good to me. I was too close for my likes (about a thousand meters) to B-52 strikes using 500 pounders, and the thought of a Daisy Cutter that close …

[rightwing2]

The RPG in all of its forms from the original RPG-2 to the more recent RPG-18 have all been man-portable weapons. There is no reason to believe that the weight and man-portability characteristics of the RPG-29 differs in any material respect from its predecessors. This is an infantry weapon carried by one man--not a vehicle mounted weapon which if thermobaric would be even more impressive and more deadly. According to at least one FR source, thermobaric weapons have 7-10 times the lethality of a conventional warhead of their equal weight. We are talking about a 155mm HE round equivalent warhead here fired by a single Russian soldier...Instant heavy firepower at the 'Army of One' level--no need to call battalion for heavy mortar support anymore at least within the range of the RPG-29 which I have not yet determined, but is probably only slightly longer than its predecessors.

[Poohbah]

rightwing2, "thermobaric weapons" is just a fancy way of saying "fuel-air explosives." Yes, they CAN be 7-10 times as lethal as conventional weapons, under ideal conditions. Unfortunately, there is one condition required for ideal lethality in a FAE weapon: very little wind. Anything above a very light breeze will disperse the fuel away from the intended detonation point, and you won't get what Marvin the Martian called "the earth-shattering KABOOM!" Instead, you'll get a pfft of zero lethality, assuming the stuff even ignites in the first place.

FAE weapons are seldom used, just because there are such limits on their effectiveness.