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| Iraq |
| Direct Strike Hard Target Weapon / Big BLU |
| 2003-03-11 |
| The previously reported story on this bomb from the Evening Standard seems to have gotten their facts mixed up. Fancy that. Although the Direct Strike Hard Target Weapon concept was unfunded as of 1997, in early 2002 it was reported that Northrop-Grumman and Lockheed Martin were working on a 30,000-lb. earth penetrating guided conventional weapon, said to be known as "Big BLU" or "Big Blue" [which is also the nickname of the 15,000-lb surface burst BLU-82]. Big BLU will be GPS guided and feature cobalt-alloy penetrator bomb body that enables it to penetrate to depths of up to 100 feet below the surface before detonating. The bombs are so large that a bomber such as the B-2 could carry one of them. As of March 2002 reportedly three Big BLUs had been ordered by the Air Force on an urgent basis ["Inside The Ring," By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times March 15, 2002 Pg. 10]. The Air Force is also investigating whether a similar size weapon could be used in a blast-only configuration, to replace the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter blast weapon dropped from the MC-130. Two bombs with the same nickname, that's where the confusion comes from. The Direct Strike Hard Target Weapon is a 20,000 lb. class precision guided, adverse weather, direct attack bomb employed on the B-52 and B-2 aircraft. It will make use of the GCU developed by the JDAM program which uses GPS aided INS for adverse weather guidance. Precision accuracy will be attained by using differential GPS (DGPS) technology demonstrated on programs such as Enhanced Differential GPS for Guidance Enhancement (EDGE) and Miniature Munition Technology Demonstration (MMTD). The weapon will make use of the JDAM interface under development for the B-52 and B-2 aircraft and would be carried internally using new suspension hardware within the bay. The warhead will be a 20,000 lb. penetrator with dense metal ballast. This concept uses the Hard Target Smart Fuze (HTSF), an accelerometer based electronic fuze which allows control of the detonation point by layer counting, distance or time. The accelerometer senses G loads on the bomb due to deceleration as it penetrates through to the target. The fuze can distinguish between earth, concrete, rock and air. So much for that bunker, Sammy. There's a graphic on the Global Security website showing just how big this puppy is. Click on the title to view. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 I think the Cargo plane delivery system is considered "slow" from a defensive viewpoint, even if BLU does deploy from a decent altitiude, and the ability to put this on a fast moving bomber lowers risk and improves targeting... although it does sound like Horseshoe targeting is plenty acceptable anyway... close enough is close enough!... I did see a link that described the thermo physics of the existing daisy cutter that was chillingly detailed in what it is like to have your "picnic" disrupted by one of these devices. Basically explosion eats up all Oxygen in the blast area as it explodes outward in a fireball, creating a large uncontained vacuum. If you survive that, praise Allah, the zero pressure area sucks air back in at 2000 MPH, and it drags any airborne debris with it superheating it into flaming dust balls...If you are not blasted away, you better be able to hold your breath for a few minutes cause its going to be like sitting in my barbeque when that spider decided to "winter over" in my propane line. Whooomp! I can't find the link, but there was about 5 different kill zones when this device goes off, or "doorways to martyrdom" depending on your proximity to the device...from vaporization, like in "War of the Worlds" to your garden variety "Hairs on fire! Hairs on fire!" dance... Let's see.. was that "stop, drop and roll or drop, roll and stop"? Concussions for a thousand yards... and long term "Beltone hearing aids" for the lucky survivors. |
| Posted by: capsu78 2003-03-11 15:37:24 |
| #4 The people and Mayor of Moab, Utah, are rather upset about the naming of his weapon. Sorry, no link. The nice thing about daisy cutters and a "blast only configuration" of this weapon is that they turn cargo planes into weapons platforms. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-11 13:08:38 |
| #3 Frank, I just read that story about the test. They really need new nicknames to keep the press from getting these mixed up. Hope that the AF releases the video of the MOAB test. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-03-11 11:24:09 |
| #2 Actually, the post I put up is that MOAB bomb that was referred to in comments - last week? AJC online sez they're going to test them at Eglin and warns about the rattling from the blasts |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-11 10:58:03 |
| #1 Sam, your palaces are going to be a mess when these things gets through with them. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-11 10:14:29 |