Biggest Non Nuke Dropped in Afghanistan
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Biggest Non Nuke Dropped in Afghanistan
CNN reporting...
Dropped from a cargo aircraft apparently. An ISIS camp and tunnel system was the target.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/13/po...omb/index.html
Dropped from a cargo aircraft apparently. An ISIS camp and tunnel system was the target.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/13/po...omb/index.html
Last edited by charliegolf; 13th Apr 2017 at 17:08.
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Excellent. Out.
It was the first time this type of bomb had been used in combat and was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said.
22,000 lbs was the total weight of the Grand Slam; according to Wikipedia (which we all know can be relied upon without question) it "only" contained 9,136 lbs of explosive.
According to that font of all knowledge, the GBU-43/B weighs in at 22,600lbs.
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Remarkable that this MOAB had to be dropped from the cargo ramp of a Herc, presumably in the absence of any current bomber capable of accommodating it?
Roy Chadwick's late-1930s design, slightly modified, might have done the job:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_...aduct_1945.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_..._Slam_bomb.jpg
Roy Chadwick's late-1930s design, slightly modified, might have done the job:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_...aduct_1945.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_..._Slam_bomb.jpg
Below the Glidepath - not correcting
Let's see some BDA before we get too euphoric. We don't quite have a solid track record of hitting barn doors with banjos in that area.
Big bombs
Salute!
Living here at Eglin where many weapons have been developed and tested, I have no small insight.
I helped with the intitial JDAM bomb to increase accuracy and then employ a terminal seeker to enhance the "end game". Did pilot displays and controls for the Mmwave Maverick. Did crew displays for the USN A-12 before it was cancelled. And the beat goes on.
So I drove out west 30 miles and found a good hill to see the second MOAB test and enjoyed it. It does not have a "sharp" crack as the other bombs I dropped in combat or witnessed from the ground. The Herc pulls a drogue chute and then lets the bomb roll out. The chute is released and the MOAB guidance takes over. I watched with my binoculars until the thing got just below the trees on a small ridge. Then the musroom cloud and 20 seconds later I heard it.
The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. It is some kinda a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground.
Later,
Gums sends...
Living here at Eglin where many weapons have been developed and tested, I have no small insight.
I helped with the intitial JDAM bomb to increase accuracy and then employ a terminal seeker to enhance the "end game". Did pilot displays and controls for the Mmwave Maverick. Did crew displays for the USN A-12 before it was cancelled. And the beat goes on.
So I drove out west 30 miles and found a good hill to see the second MOAB test and enjoyed it. It does not have a "sharp" crack as the other bombs I dropped in combat or witnessed from the ground. The Herc pulls a drogue chute and then lets the bomb roll out. The chute is released and the MOAB guidance takes over. I watched with my binoculars until the thing got just below the trees on a small ridge. Then the musroom cloud and 20 seconds later I heard it.
The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. It is some kinda a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground.
Later,
Gums sends...
Last edited by gums; 13th Apr 2017 at 22:32. Reason: spelling
Salute gums!
"The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. I thing is a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground."
Very different from Grand Slam, then, which was a deeply-penetrating earthquake bomb with a very strong casing.
"The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. I thing is a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground."
Very different from Grand Slam, then, which was a deeply-penetrating earthquake bomb with a very strong casing.
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Salute!
Living here at Eglin where many weapons have been developed and tested, I have no small insight.
I helped with the intitial JDAM bomb to increase accuracy and then employ a terminal seeker to enhance the "end game". Did pilot displays and controls for the Mmwave Maverick. Did crew displays for the USN A-12 before it was cancelled. And the beat goes on.
So I drove out west 30 miles and found a good hill to see the second MOAB test and enjoyed it. It does not have a "sharp" crack as the other bombs I dropped in combat or witnessed from the ground. The Herc pulls a drogue chute and then lets the bomb roll out. The chute is released and the MOAB guidance takes over. I watched with my binoculars until the thing got just below the trees on a small ridge. Then the musroom cloud and 20 seconds later I heard it.
The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. It is some kinda a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground.
Later,
Gums sends...
Living here at Eglin where many weapons have been developed and tested, I have no small insight.
I helped with the intitial JDAM bomb to increase accuracy and then employ a terminal seeker to enhance the "end game". Did pilot displays and controls for the Mmwave Maverick. Did crew displays for the USN A-12 before it was cancelled. And the beat goes on.
So I drove out west 30 miles and found a good hill to see the second MOAB test and enjoyed it. It does not have a "sharp" crack as the other bombs I dropped in combat or witnessed from the ground. The Herc pulls a drogue chute and then lets the bomb roll out. The chute is released and the MOAB guidance takes over. I watched with my binoculars until the thing got just below the trees on a small ridge. Then the musroom cloud and 20 seconds later I heard it.
The bomb is not a "contact fuze" demolition doofer. It is some kinda a "thermobaric" thing and explodes a hundred feet or more above ground.
Later,
Gums sends...