Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: tohall@helios.lerc.nasa.gov (Dave Hall (Sverdrup)) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Big Bombs in PG Message-ID: <1991Feb15.065559.9255@cbnews.att.com> Date: 15 Feb 91 06:55:59 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center Lines: 37 Approved: military@att.att.com From: tohall@helios.lerc.nasa.gov (Dave Hall (Sverdrup)) Saw this info in a local article: The U.S is using the largest bomb in the arsenal - the 15,000-pound "BLU-82" - in recent allied air attacks on Iraq as part of an intensified effort to shake enemy troop morale before the expected allied ground offensive. Warplanes began dropping the massive bomb, also known as a "daisy cutter", last week and are expected to continue during the ongoing phase of softening up Iraqi troops for the anticipated U.S. ground assault. Supposedly, the huge bombs are being used for their "shock value" in hopes of shattering Iraqi morale and inducing large-scale defections. The dropping of the bombs is followed by a rain of leaflets promising that more such bombardment was to come and the only way the Iraqi soldiers could escape the punishment would be to turn themselves in as prisoners. The name "daisy cutter" derives from the fact that the weapon is detonated above the ground and flattens everything in its large blast radius. The concussion at point of detonation is supposed to be equivalent to that of a small nuclear weapon. Its explosive yield varies from 12,600 to 15,000 pounds, according to Air Force documents. The largest munitions used previously in the conflict were 2,000-pound bombs dropped from aircraft and 1,900-pound shells fired from 16-inch guns aboard U.S battleships in the Persian Gulf. The BLU-82, also known as Big Blue 82, is detonated 3-6 feet off the ground to maximize the shock wave. It clears an area with a diameter of 300- 600 yards. Ground commanders in Vietnam said they could hear the big bomb's blast from a distance of over 10 miles. The bomb is dropped by transport planes because it cannot be fitted under any U.S. fighter or tactical bomber. A B-52 bomb bay would have to be extensively modified to accomodate the huge and rarely used weapon, so the bombs are loaded onto wheeled pallets and shoved out the rear cargo hatch of a C-130 transport.