700-Ton Bomb to be tested

[Un4given]

Eh, might not be *army* but pretty damn close...

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-31-voa15.cfm


US Military to Test 700-Ton Explosive in Nevada Desert
By VOA News
31 March 2006


The U.S. military is preparing to test a massive new bomb that is designed to destroy underground military targets.

The test, code-named Divine Strake, will take place in June in the western U.S. state of Nevada. The military will detonate a 700-ton explosive at a test site in the Nevada desert located about 145 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas.

The weapon consists of a special explosive which will pack the equivalent of more than 500 tons of TNT when it is detonated. It will create a mushroom shaped dust cloud that could reach as high as three kilometers into the air.

A military official says the test could remind some of the open-air nuclear tests that were conducted during the 1950s. But the agency conducting the test insists there is no danger of radioactivity from the blast.

[armynurseboy]

A 5-kiloton conventional warhead??? That thing must be massive. The only reason why we would even consider such a thing is becuase some folks are too squemish to use small yield tactical nukes.....

[Aries]

that my friends.. is fucking AWESOME

[armynurseboy]

Hmmmm..."destroy underground military targets".... I wonder who or what they are referring to.... :D ;-)

[Skull6]

A 5-kiloton conventional warhead???

ANB, a "5-kiloton" yield would be 5,000 ton equivalency, not 500.

I know, I know. You're a nurse, not a physicist. :D

[armynurseboy]

A 5-kiloton conventional warhead???

ANB, a "5-kiloton" yield would be 5,000 ton equivalency, not 500.

I know, I know. You're a nurse, not a physicist. :D

Hey I deal with milligrams and micrograms..... :D

[Skull6]

If this is the one I read about last week, it's a "multi-stage non-nuclear bunker penetrator."

If so, it's not one big blast, but a number of smaller ones (to penetrate multiple layers of reinforced concrete) followed by "one BIG bang" a distance underground. (I seem to remember this distance being hundreds of feet.)

I've looked for the info on the public side of Mr. Gore's invention here, but can't find it for y'all. (Hence the "Alexander Vague-ness" of this post.)

[MistahKurtz]

Is it wrong that this gives me a slight hard-on?

[Cerebroden]

I've looked for the info on the public side of Mr. Gore's invention here, but can't find it for y'all. (Hence the "Alexander Vague-ness" of this post.)

I'll take your word on it.

Now the question is....who can we test this on next?

[HerdROTC]

Something tells me this is gonna be one of those things that turns into a money pit, and sadly never gets used

[Un4given]

This is like a legal nuke. ;) lol


Anywho, I'm not a weapons expert, can someone enlighten me on how they determine the "weight" of the warhead? Like is the 700tons the explosion force?

[elric42me2]

Something tells me this is gonna be one of those things that turns into a money pit, and sadly never gets used

I do some research in school and this seems to be the only guarantee in research. LOTS of money gets spent on things that result in nothing, and a few useful tidbits of knowledge or physical products are actually created. Thats the pace of science and advancement in my experience ::smirk::

[Skull6]

Yeah, it seems those things that we do use that work effectively were designed by the user (vice the "expert" scientists) & end up being far less expensive...like THIS (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/blu-82.htm)

I guess they tied the hands of the scientists again when they upgraded it to THIS (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/moab.htm)

& while looking these up, I came across THIS (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/dshtw.htm)

I like servicing targets in a direct-fire mode using a tank gun. BUT...if I can't do this, killing them with MASSIVE overpressure & vertical penetration sans radioactive fallout, dropped by my friends in the air, is an acceptable alternative, I think.

[armynurseboy]

Something tells me this is gonna be one of those things that turns into a money pit, and sadly never gets used

This could also be a huge psy-op ploy going on. We may never actually field this weapon, but it puts into the minds of certain individuals that we may have the capability really soon, so play nice or else....

[Skull6]

Or better yet...

"Go ahead & dig yourselves in REAL deep. We're about to play the next annual "Super Darts from Heaven" game in your area!"

It's sure to be a big hit! :D

[Associate289]

I like servicing targets in a direct-fire mode using a tank gun. BUT...if I can't do this, killing them with MASSIVE overpressure & vertical penetration sans radioactive fallout, dropped by my friends in the air, is an acceptable alternative, I think.

Yeah, and then when upwards of 20% of the submunitions don't explode you call dumbasses like me to come and deal with it.

[El Santo!]

Anywho, I'm not a weapons expert, can someone enlighten me on how they determine the "weight" of the warhead? Like is the 700tons the explosion force?

I'm pretty sure when it's conventional explosives, they just use the weight of the explosives. A 1 Kiloton bomb would be 1,000 tons of TNT. Nukes however, use the equivalent explosive force that amount of TNT would be needed to cause. A 1 megaton Nuclear Warhead produces and explosion whose energy would be matched by 1 Million Tons of TNT.

[armynurseboy]

Speaking of super weapons, did anyone read in the paper this weekend that Iran says they tested an underwater missle that can travel upwards to 200mph. They said it's designed to take out submarines. Don't know about you, but my BS alarm is starting to chirp.....

[CombatCady]

Speaking of super weapons, did anyone read in the paper this weekend that Iran says they tested an underwater missle that can travel upwards to 200mph. They said it's designed to take out submarines. Don't know about you, but my BS alarm is starting to chirp.....

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ships.htm
Even if they had it, I don't think they have enough ships to make it useful against anyone of importance.

[Un4given]

Shit I didnt even know they had a navy. ;)

[Skull6]

I think we need to open our minds & expand our definitions of some military terms used of late.

No one thought Yemen had a Navy either, till the Cole got slammed...

[Un4given]

I think we need to open our minds & expand our definitions of some military terms used of late.

No one thought Yemen had a Navy either, till the Cole got slammed...Ah, *that* kinda Navy... hmmmph

[armynurseboy]

Shit I didnt even know they had a navy. ;)

Who do you think was causing all of the problems in the Persian Gulf back in the late 80's and early 90's? ;-)

That being said, most of their big stuff is pretty antiquated, left overs from when the Shah was still in power.

[CombatCady]

I think we need to open our minds & expand our definitions of some military terms used of late.

No one thought Yemen had a Navy either, till the Cole got slammed...
Yeah, but that kinda navy ain't gonna be launching no underwater missile at 200mph.

[Un4given]

I think we need to open our minds & expand our definitions of some military terms used of late.

No one thought Yemen had a Navy either, till the Cole got slammed...
Yeah, but that kinda navy ain't gonna be launching no underwater missile at 200mph.Agreed.

[Skull6]

No one ever thought terrorists would be knocking our aircraft outta the sky, either...

with stinger missiles.

Never underestimate you opponent.

[CombatCady]

Touche.
Now, they're using Anti-Aircraft IEDs. They lay that shit on top of a building and when a low-flying helo goes over, it explodes upward towards the chopper, or even launches up and explodes, Betty-style. Clever bastards.

[Un4given]

Are you fucking serious?

[CombatCady]

Swear to JJP. It was in The Army Times not too long ago. I'll see if I can find the issue today, when I head up to ROTC to get some paperwork done.

[Un4given]

I'm intrigued, I'd like to see this.

[Skull6]

They were also burying them in suspected LZs, near another IED. Such that the other would go off--causing casualties. When the evac helo came it--boom again.

Fuckers.

[CombatCady]

Clever bastards.

[Skull6]

Back when the words were written, they were killing their enemy with swords & knives--face-to-face, mano-e-mano.

Now, they've twisted those words such that they can set off a nuke on the other side of the planet & still be rewarded.

I prefer the nickname for them, "malicious fucking cowards," myself.

& if I was Allah, I'd be pissed as Hell...

[CombatCady]

I prefer the nickname for them, "malicious fucking cowards," myself.
Yeah, but they're clever malicious fucking cowards.


& if I was Allah, I'd be pissed as Hell...
Wait, you mean you're not Allah? Seriously, though, if God really would side with the killing of innocents, there's very little hope for all of us. I just can't understand how they can twist the Koran - a book that, for the most part, teaches love and compassion - into a cause for hate and slaughter. But I suppose I'm taking the thread off-topic now.

[Skull6]

CC, I don't think you're pushing things too off the mark. I mean the punk on trial himself keeps quoting it & using it to try to justify his actions.

I think it'd be hilarious if the jury came back with "guilty by reason of insanity"...

[armynurseboy]

No one ever thought terrorists would be knocking our aircraft outta the sky, either...

with stinger missiles.

Never underestimate you opponent.

I haven't heard of any confirmed downings with Stingers. Most of the aircraft that have been brought down with SAM's were SA-7's. For the most part the same thing, but made by the Russians, not us...

[armynurseboy]

I just can't understand how they can twist the Koran - a book that, for the most part, teaches love and compassion - into a cause for hate and slaughter. But I suppose I'm taking the thread off-topic now.

Oh that's very easy to do. And it's not just the Muslims who do it. Take Rev. (and I use that word very lightly) Phelps and his ilk.

The major flaw with the Bible, Koran, etc, is that it was written by men. It may be the word of God, divinly inspired, but it's still put to paper by men. And whenever you have mankind somewhere in that equation, there are going to be corruptions of the meaning....

[Skull6]

No one ever thought terrorists would be knocking our aircraft outta the sky, either...

with stinger missiles.

Never underestimate you opponent.

I haven't heard of any confirmed downings with Stingers. Most of the aircraft that have been brought down with SAM's were SA-7's. For the most part the same thing, but made by the Russians, not us...

The "moo-ja-hah-deen" (guess what they're called now?) received stingers from us to drop Russian a/c over afghanistan. The unused missiles from that encounter are still out there--in their hands.

Think we'd actually announce publically that one of ours, used by them, dropped one of ours?

[armynurseboy]

No one ever thought terrorists would be knocking our aircraft outta the sky, either...

with stinger missiles.

Never underestimate you opponent.

I haven't heard of any confirmed downings with Stingers. Most of the aircraft that have been brought down with SAM's were SA-7's. For the most part the same thing, but made by the Russians, not us...

The "moo-ja-hah-deen" (guess what they're called now?) received stingers from us to drop Russian a/c over afghanistan. The unused missiles from that encounter are still out there--in their hands.

Think we'd actually announce publically that one of ours, used by them, dropped one of ours?

Yeah I know we gave them Stingers. Old news. But those missles that were unused are over 20 years old. The battery packs that powered them have long since died, rendering those missles useless. I read a report that talked about this very subject. The bigger threat is not from any Stingers that 'may' still be functional, but from brand new SAMs that are currently being built by (and sold) but the French, Russians, Chinese, etc that are just as good.....

[Skull6]

Dead batteries? Again, never underestimate our opponent.

Anyone predict that cell phones might be used to detonate IEDs before this?

(Granted their track record for properly maintaining their equipment leaves much to be desired, but look at what they've done with what they've used recently.

Important lesson: ANYTHING you leave behind you WILL be used against you.

[CombatCady]

I just can't understand how they can twist the Koran - a book that, for the most part, teaches love and compassion - into a cause for hate and slaughter. But I suppose I'm taking the thread off-topic now.

Oh that's very easy to do. And it's not just the Muslims who do it. Take Rev. (and I use that word very lightly) Phelps and his ilk.

The major flaw with the Bible, Koran, etc, is that it was written by men. It may be the word of God, divinly inspired, but it's still put to paper by men. And whenever you have mankind somewhere in that equation, there are going to be corruptions of the meaning....

Very good point, and well-said.

[TheTokenGook]

Speaking of super weapons, did anyone read in the paper this weekend that Iran says they tested an underwater missle that can travel upwards to 200mph. They said it's designed to take out submarines. Don't know about you, but my BS alarm is starting to chirp.....

I was about to mention Iran myself. This type of bomb is being developed primarily to deal with enemies such as Iran or N Korea who are notorious for putting military command facilities and in some cases, nuclear research facilities under ground.

Also, a lot of this hype the Iranian military is putting out is to discourage the US, Israel or other allies from launching strikes against their nuclear facilities.


That being said, most of their big stuff is pretty antiquated, left overs from when the Shah was still in power.

I've always known that ANB is a smart guy. I don't know too much about their ground equipment (you know how AF centered I am), but ANB is correct. Most of their equipment is antiquated. While the USN has already retired all of their F-14As and Bs and will soon retire the remaining D models, the IIAF is struggling to keep their F-14A fleet alive. The Tomcat is still a front line weapon system for them, but most of the original fleet (that survived the Iran-Iraq War) has been k-balled to keep the rest flying. They are also still flying Vietnam era F-4Es and a some F-5s. All of their American made equipment are in need of replacement soon. The Iranians have developed an indigneous fighter based on the F-5, but compared to Western equipment, it isn't too much of a threat. Pic (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/images/saeqeh-pic1.jpg) They do operate some soviet made aircraft such as the MiG-29, but I do not have much information on that. But of course, we all know the stellar combat record of the MiG-29.