Who Needs Nukes When We Have This???

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I found this article and I thought I'd share it with you all. I can't give you a link to it, since I found it on my CompuServe main menu.

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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The U.S. Air Force successfully tested the most powerful conventional bomb in its arsenal on Tuesday, sending a mushroom cloud billowing into the sky over its Florida test range.

It was the first test of the 21,000-pound MOAB explosive device nicknamed the "mother of all bombs."

"It looked like a white mushroom cloud, almost like cotton or smoke you'd see from a fire, kind of billowy," said base spokeswoman Karen Roganov, who watched from a rooftop 30 miles away. "We did not feel anything. We saw the cloud and several seconds later we heard a boom."

Defense officials suggested the test was a message to Iraq ahead of a possible war about the might of the U.S. military.

"Obviously, anything we have in the arsenal, anything that's in almost any stage of development, could be used" against Iraq, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff. An aircraft dropped the bomb on a test range at Eglin Air Force Base in northwest Florida just after 2 p.m. EST, said a base spokeswoman, Senior Airman Nicholasa Brown.

The bomb packs 40 percent more power than America's current most powerful non-nuclear bomb, the 15,000-pound "Daisy Cutter," which was used to pound the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in late 2001, Eglin officials said.

Base officials warned residents in neighboring communities to expect a loud noise when the bomb was dropped. But police in Pensacola, about 30 miles away, said they heard nothing when the bomb fell and were unaware the test was completed.

The "MOAB" is guided by global positioning satellites, an Eglin spokeswoman said. It spreads a flammable mist over the target, then ignites it, producing a highly destructive blast.

Military officials gave the acronym as "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" or "Massive Ordnance Air Burst" but in the end, they have nicknamed it the "Mother Of All Bombs."

The power of the 10.5-ton MOAB bomb falls far short of that generated by nuclear weapons, however.

The Daisy Cutter, used in Vietnam to clear swatches of jungle for helicopter landing sites, is a "dumb" bomb dropped directly over the target. The MOAB is more precise, relying on the satellite positioning system to hit its mark. The Daisy Cutter was designed to kill a large number of troops and programmed to detonate just before it hits the ground, spreading the blast over a 600-yard square area. When it was used in Tora Bora, military officials said it would have a psychological impact on people hiding in the caves because of the reverberation from the explosion.

Eglin officials said they did not know the size of the blast area of the more powerful MOAB. But officials said it was partly a psychological weapon designed to instill fear.
"There is a psychological component to all aspects of warfare," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Washington. "The goal is to not have a war...

"The goal is to have the capabilities of the coalition so clear and so obvious that there is an enormous disincentive for the Iraqi military to fight against the coalition, and there is an enormous incentive for Saddam Hussein to leave and spare the world a conflict," Rumsfeld said.

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Man...I wish I could have been around when that bad boy went off! That would have been one hell of a boom.

Off topic: This is why I want to join the US Air Force...notice they didn't say that the "Army" or the "Navy" did the test...why? Because the US Air Force is way better than any other armed forces!

/me ducks from the incoming bullets

 

Well this clearly is bush' way to show he really really wants this war.

I don't get why he just doesn't attack, if the u.n. decides to give iraq more time he is going to attack anyways. I mean you don't send 300000 groundtroups over there just for fun right?

 

a bomb is a bomb is a bomb. They've been testing the things for years now, and the only reason it's getting publicity is because of the war. So it's nothing new.

And the Air Force rocks. You actually have to be intelligent *gasp* and have a good credit report?? *double gasp* to get in. When I was seriously considering joining the military....and I was for a while...That was the one my Marine father talked me into joining. He worked on airplanes when he was in, and so worked with a lot of Air Force people and said they were treated the best. My jealous ex-Navy ex-husband called them wanna-be civilians. He was just mad because I got accepted and he didn't.

Yes, and I know I'm but I couldn't resist.

 

Ka-Boom!

I love the name "Daisy Cutter".

 

Why, yes it does!

No, the real reason is because all other armed services are very jelous of the Air Force...mainly because the Air Force is the only armed service that is not "expendable".

*Kitrax drops a few MOABs on the Navy*

 

I think they ruduced the TNT to 18,000 lbs for that test. Lots of good info though The US air Force does eat better than any other branch for sure!

 

I think we still need nukes because these are currently in the development process, and I would assume that ICBMs are somewhat cheaper.

Or was that a rhetorical question?

 

Don't know the exact quote or who to credit it to, but I believe it was a comedian who said something like:

Why on earth would pick a fight with America? This is a nation that just for fun builds cars that can go from 0 to 300 MPH (483 KPH) in under 4 seconds and in less that a 1/4 mile (402 meters)? Think what they will build if you piss them off!

We are starting to find out!

 

Patriots...

 

Istari,

Thanks, in America that is still a complement!

 

That's a great quote Darkwolf!

 

Istari, Patriots are Dutch!!!

heh, i though Istari meant patriots as in anti-missile weapons, silly me

[ March 14, 2003, 16:33: Message edited by: Morgoth ]

 

Morgoth -
I don't know where the word "patriot" originates, but in the U.S. is means someone who loves their nation/state/city/party/etc... with passion.

I am very fond of California and Sacramento. I own a California Republic flag and display it with pride. This makes me a California Patriot.

 

Hehehe! I grew up in southern Cali so I still fly a CA flag in my front yard...it makes my "Utah Hick" of a neighbor really angry!

 

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart on MOAB:

"...proving once again that our country has a huge penis."

 

It's clear that Bush only want's to flex his muscles... Pathetic... Theres no reasoning with that man...

 

Sarcastically read...

Bombs are very useful...

They kill people...

I am so proud to have a leader that wants to kill people...

I am so proud to have John Coward as my leader...

(He is not my leader, he's just a PM)