Eglin readies test of huge bomb

Orlando Sentinel ^

[Normal4me]

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE -- A new conventional bomb whose blast releases shock waves that can be felt miles away is scheduled to be tested at a range here, possibly within a week, officials said Saturday. The 21,000-pound bomb is known as a MOAB, or "massive ordnance air burst." A bomb known as a "daisy cutter," the 15,000-pound BLU-82, is currently billed as the world's most powerful non-nuclear explosive. Eglin spokesman Jake Swinson would not give a date for when the bomb would be tested, but said Saturdaythatit would probably be within a week. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the test date. The BLU-82 kills people more than 200 feet away and injures people 500 feet away -- which means its blast extends nearly two football fields. Specifications for the MOAB were not available Saturday. The MOAB has not been tested before but was set to be ready for wartime use this year, said Gloria Cales, a spokeswoman for Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon. "Eglin's Air Force Research Lab started developing the technology for the weapon in 2002," she said. Lt. Col. Debbie Millett, a spokeswoman at Eglin, said base officials will take extra steps to notify the public in advance that they might hear a boom. Tests are done inside a buffer zone to make sure none of the damaging effects -- a shock wave or debris -- extends beyond the Eglin reservation boundaries, she said.

[WolfsView]

Hey guys get ready for a big boom. Pop open a can of beer for me when it goes off.

[11B3]

Images of the New MOAB Weapon February 27, 2003: The U.S. Air Force is developing a new, 2nd generation, ten ton large, low air burst bomb. It will replace the older "Daisy Cutter" 7.5 ton bomb developed during the 1960s. This was a 7.5 ton bomb using a semi-liquid explosive for clearing landing zones in the Vietnam jungle. The terms "Daisy Cutter" actually comes from the four foot probe at the bottom of the bomb which triggered the explosion without creating a crater (helicopters don't like to land in craters.) The probe was later replaced with a radar altimeter fuze, but the nickname "Daisy Cutter" stuck. The official designation was BLU-82 (or "Big Blue"). Until the BLU-82 came along, the biggest non-nuclear explosion obtainable was with a FAE (Fuel Air Explosives). FAE  works by dropping a bomb that is actually a large aerosol dispenser. When the FAE "explodes" it first dispenses a large cloud of flammable material (anything like gasoline or propane will work). The cloud is then ignited and huge explosion results. There's one drawback, the size and density of the aerosol cloud depends a lot on the wind, air temperature and humidity. So the power of the explosion will vary a lot. But it's difficult to get a FAE to work in a bomb larger than 2000 pounds. So the replacement for the BLU-82 bomb, called MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Burst) simply uses more of the  slurry of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum.  In dry, dusty conditions, the Daisy Cutter produces a mushroom cloud similar to that created by a nuclear explosion (and for the same reason, the sheer size of the explosion creates an upward pull that sends up a "mushroom" of smoke and dust on a column of smoke). In addition to a more  powerful explosion, MOAB doesn’t need a parachute, like the Daisy Cutter, but uses a GPS (like JDAM) and an aerodynamic body to detonate the bomb at a precise area. Thus the MOAB can be dropped from a higher altitude (like outside the range of machine-guns and rifles). Like the Daisy Cutter, MOAB is shoved out the back of a cargo aircraft (usually a C-130, but since the MOAB uses GPS and higher altitude drops, the C-17 can probably be used as well.) MOAB is a highly destructive and terrifying weapon. If used in Iraq, it would demoralize any Iraqi troops in the vicinity who survived the explosion. The force of a MOAB explosion is sufficient to knock over tanks and kill any people within several hundred meters of the detonation. After the 1991 Gulf War, the United States started to get rid of it's various FAE weapons. But some were left in the inventory when the Afghanistan came along and the success of Daisy Cutters there, plus the new Russian research in FAE weapons, led to the new American research effort. There may be larger, or simply more powerful, FAE weapons in the works. But for the moment, MOAB, using pretty old fashioned technology, is the biggest non-nuclear bomb around.

[dvwjr]

The 21,000-pound bomb is known as a MOAB, or "massive ordnance air burst."

MOAB. I thought that it really stood for "Mother of All Bombs".

Perhaps some lucky Iraqi Republican Guard types can tell us how effective it is on one of those History Channel programs in the future...

dvwjr

[chuknospam]

They had to put off the test twice due to weather. All the folks in the vicinity of Eglin were told to leave their windows open to prevent them from being broken by the shock wave. We've had alot of rain lately here in FL making conditions ripe for sinkhole formation, hope that MOAB doesn't open up too many new ones.

[libertylover]

"Mother of all bombs" - love it!

Can't you just here the antiwar crowd though:
It's too big.
Nobody needs a bomb that big.
It's not fair because others don't have a bomb that big.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

"Mother of All Bombs"

LOL!

Perhaps some lucky Iraqi Republican Guard types can tell us how effective it is on one of those History Channel programs in the future...

Is Josh Binswanger filming in Paradise?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

You sure about that? I was living in Florida during the drought of the mid-late 90's, and the increase in sinkholes was being blamed on underground aquifers drying up and leaving the subterranean limestone looking like "swiss cheese".

It's like global warming: An irrefutable hypothesis, since all observations confirm the hypothesis, with confidence level 100%. BTW, where in Western Massachusetts?

[gulfcoast6]

The makers of Exlax ain't going to be pleased at all if the sell their product to Iraq.

[e_engineer]

The BLU-82 kills people more than 200 feet away and injures people 500 feet away

They left off some zeroes here. Should be more like 2000 ft. and 5000 ft.

[freedumb2003]

"Mother of All Bombs"

I seem to recall some artricles on this bomb a few months ago. TI think the miltos called it "the Crowd Pleaser."

You gotta love that one!

[taildragger]

Oh, my Gosh a "Freeper" in Western Ma. I grew up in Agawam and defected the P.S.R.M. "The Peoples Socialist Republic of Mass." about 10 years ago now.

Don't feel alone, there are many of us conservatives across the "Fruited Plain". You may be out-numbered in W.M., but take comfort in thre fact there are millions of us.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Can't you just here the antiwar crowd though:
It's too big.
Nobody needs a bomb that big.
It's not fair because others don't have a bomb that big.

Also expect to hear: 20,000 pounds is a threshold, sort of like the speed of sound, and anything larger will ignite all the oxygen and turn the earth, make that planet, into a french fry.

After the 1991 Gulf War, the United States started to get rid of it's various FAE weapons.

That coincides with the Clinton Administration. He also depleted our inventory of cruise missiles before departing. Legacy?? There is pleanty of legacy for him as long as honest researchers exist.

[July 4th]

Wow...what a beauty.

[commish]

MY brother lives in Ft. Walton and said the news has been telling residents to leave windows open when the test is announced and to not be alarmed by the boom and shaking.

"where's the ka-boom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering Ka-booom!"

[freedumb2003]

>>turn the earth, make that planet, into a french fry.<<

Hey, that's FREEDOM Fry!

[freedumb2003]