Test of Massive Air Force Bomb Set for Tuesday at Eglin AFB (Florida)

AP ^

[Semper911]

Mar 10, 2003

Test of 'massive' Air Force Bomb Set for Tuesday at Eglin

The Associated Press

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) - A conventional bomb so big that it's first name is "massive" is set to be tested for the first time at this Florida Panhandle base Tuesday.

Air Force officials Monday warned residents of communities surrounding the western half Eglin's 724-square-mile military reservation to be prepared to hear an explosion that sounds like thunder or a slamming door between noon and 5 p.m. CST although the blast will be miles away.

The loudness of the 21,000-pound "massive ordnance air burst," or MOAB, will vary depending on wind currents and some people may not hear it at all, Eglin officials said in a brief news release.

They added that the test will be conducted only under weather conditions best for minimizing the sound and inside a buffer zone to keep a shock wave and debris from the explosion inside Eglin's boundaries. The backup date for the test is Thursday during the same time frame.

MOAB is similar to but 40 percent heavier than the 15,000-pound BLU-82, billed as the world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb and known to send up a mushroom cloud similar to a nuclear weapon.

The BLU-82, nicknamed "daisy cutter," was developed during the Vietnam War to create jungle clearings for use as helicopter landing areas. It was most recently dropped in Afghanistan on caves where al-Qaida leaders were suspected of hiding.

In the Persian Gulf War, it was used to clear minefields. MOAB is expected to be ready for use this year if the test is successful.

Areas where civilians may be able to hear the blast are Mary Esther, Navarre, Holly, Holt and western Crestview.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Send them the video tape titled, "Coming to a neighborhood near you".

[Doctor Stochastic]

Note that the destruction if roughly proportional to the 2/3 power of the tonnage.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Drudge still only has articles about the test going to happen, nothing new on it.

[finnman69]

From CNN

MOAB, privately known in military circles as "the mother of all bombs," has been under development since late last year. The bomb carries 18,000 pounds of tritonal explosives, which have an indefinite shelf life. It replaces the Vietnam-era "Daisy Cutter," a 15,000-pound bomb with 12,600 pounds of the less-powerful GSX explosives.

[null and void]

Getting tired of Limbaugh refering to this air base as "ELLLLGINE" Air Force Base!

He caught hisself, and appologized for his verbal dysxwn, disl, dyslexia...

[Stay the course]

Some people think we should have dropped and filmed one atomic bomb in 1945 in the South Pacific and sent the film in the can directly to Tokyo through the Red Cross, with a threat attached.

Some people are stupid. Japan didn't surrender after we dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. These people think a film of a bomb would have worked, when an actual bomb didn't. Unbelievable.

[AF_Blue]

You caught me at work. I deal with facts and information and tend to take things seriously here. Definitely time for a Coke break.

[AmericanInTokyo]

:-)

You OK there at Eglin, AF_Blue?

(He (she?) might have had to go for a quick, early beer!)

[Doctor Stochastic]

The destruction of the Japanese forces in Manchuria by the Russians (took about a week) did help though. This is an under appreciated campaign in the West.

[AmericanInTokyo]

You are of course technically incorrect. But that's a whole 'nuther thread....

[null and void]

Just reported on ABC radio news...

[AmericanInTokyo]

ABC Radio News.

ONE HOUR LATE

(One hour after our own Freeper AF_Blue posted the news for all of us.) 3:00 p.m. Eastern (for ABC Radio)

[null and void]

Ping me when that thread starts, I want enough heads up to pop popcorn...

[RobFromGa]

Nice job sir. Front line reporting at its finest. Another Free Republic get.

[null and void]

Yup.

By the way, did you know CBS News is spinning off it radio network?

All the audio only news will be "HearBS"...

[RobFromGa]

The plan was to film it and show the test over in Iraq to let the Iraqis know what they're up against. There goes the last clean pair of underwear in the country.

And then they're going to show France. But of course the French don't wear underwear, and certainly not clean underwear.

[Stay the course]

You are of course technically incorrect.

Care to elaborate? Even after Nagasaki, the Imperial Council was still deadlocked over whether to surrender. Hirohito had to cast the deciding vote.

[null and void]

(popcorn in the microwave as we speak)...

[finnman69]

I think it's cool to......I just want to see the video!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80797,00.html

Jake Swinson, spokesman for the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said there would be no onsite news coverage of the test for safety reasons, but an Air Force chase plane would take video that would be made available later to news organizations.

[yarddog]

I was in DeFuniak Springs when it went off and did not hear or feel a thing. This is about 30 miles from the blast and the winds might have been away from us.