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Big Blue
London Evening Standard ^ | 03/11/2003 | Thisislondon.com

Posted on 03/11/2003 7:02:30 AM PST by pechuna

The new superbomb is an upgrade of an already devastating weapon used by the Americans against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

*Nicknamed Big Blue, it contains 21,000lb of conventional high explosive, an increase from the 15,000lb BLU-82 "daisy cutter" used at least four times on tunnels and caves in Afghanistan.

* It was originally designed to clear helicopter-landing zones in Vietnam and works by detonating a few feet above ground level and destroying everything in its path.

* The warhead is packed with Gelled Slurry Explosive, which is detonated with a high explosive booster. The slurry is poured into the bomb's casing which is then loaded on to a plane and launched by parachute at 6,000ft.

* Eleven BLU-82s were dropped during the first Gulf War, according to some experts "as much for their psychological effect as their destructive power".


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bigblue; superbomb
Hail To The Victors, Champions from the West!
1 posted on 03/11/2003 7:02:31 AM PST by pechuna
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To: pechuna
Man, whatta headache !
2 posted on 03/11/2003 7:04:12 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: pechuna
What's the kill ratio?
3 posted on 03/11/2003 7:05:56 AM PST by goodseedhomeschool
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To: pechuna
Hail To The Victors, Champions from the West!

I hate that song....

4 posted on 03/11/2003 7:09:28 AM PST by Dan from Michigan (Every man dies. Not every man really lives.)
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To: Dan from Michigan
Oh how I hate Ohio State!
5 posted on 03/11/2003 7:12:03 AM PST by pechuna
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To: goodseedhomeschool
Everything within 1200 yards is within the kill radius.
6 posted on 03/11/2003 7:15:37 AM PST by American in Israel (Right beats wrong)
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To: pechuna
I've read that there are plans to build and test a 30,000 pounder.

30,000 lbs. Man oh man, That's a lot of banannas.

7 posted on 03/11/2003 7:19:42 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (®)
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To: American in Israel
OH! Bet it can leave quite a crator too (bunker buster). TY.
8 posted on 03/11/2003 7:22:05 AM PST by goodseedhomeschool
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To: pechuna
Go Green! Go White!
9 posted on 03/11/2003 7:23:07 AM PST by Dan from Michigan (Every man dies. Not every man really lives.)
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To: pechuna
Gelled Slurry Explosive:

Just an FYI, for people who've never heard of this stuff:

Patent 4324599

Navy case 61135

Date 04-13-82

Inventor(s) Kenneth Range William Irwin Dr. Russell Reed

Gelled Slurry Explosive

An explosive slurry containing red water, a nitrocellulose containing propellant, oxidizer, passivated aluminum and a thickening agent.

10 posted on 03/11/2003 7:34:20 AM PST by Kenton
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To: pechuna
destroying everything in its path.

Just the thing for those precise surgical strikes to minimize the number of civilian casualties when you don't want to make more enemies than you kill.

11 posted on 03/11/2003 7:38:49 AM PST by MosesKnows
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