Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!uw-beaver!mit-eddie!mintaka!olivea!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: riga@uncecs.edu (Helmuts A. Fiefs) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: FAMS Message-ID: <1990Oct10.000446.29977@cbnews.att.com> Date: 10 Oct 90 00:04:46 GMT Sender: military-request@att.att.com Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 15 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Helmuts A. Fiefs The poster that indicated that FAM's were used to clear lz's was most likely wrong. I remember that a blockbuster , 10k tnt bomb, used in WW2 was the weopon of choice. It knocked down trees and really cleared the area. As I remeber in one instance a c130 was used to deliver the ordinace. I was on a team that evaluated FAM's as tools for clearing minefields, worked well, but it did not knock down trees. The blast did defoliate all bushes and small trees in it's blast area. The wepon was really developed to be used to get troops in protected area (trenches, tanks, etc). Air delivery would be a problem because of the exquisite fusing required. Distance of the ground, airspeed and ground temperature could all be significant problems in the effective used of this ordinance. Not a fun weapon if youy are in the cloud.