^^^^^^^^^^ HEY!!!!!! There are rules in warfare! Dropping that qualifies as weapon of mass destruction.

When you drop a bomb designed to destroy an underground tunnel complex, what is used to assess the damage?

Trained tactical gophers?

These guys

quote:

Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:
Snip- Amy Yuk Schumer

That Sir, was hysterical..the post...not the travesty pictured

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
When you drop a bomb designed to destroy an underground tunnel complex, what is used to assess the damage?

Trained tactical gophers?

You use amalgamated surveillance data (IMINT & HUMINT) of known entrances/exits for the duration of time you've monitored those continuously to generate an estimate of enemy strength. Then you make an educated guess. The truth is, we never know exactly how many people we kill in a lot of strikes, but especially something like this.

Just a dumb question...but I know nothing about bombs...

Why did they drop an air blast bomb to destroy caves ?? Wouldn't one want to use a penetrating, bunker busting type ??

Is it a fuel-air bomb or one with so much solid explosive packed into it that it can function as an air blast weapon as well as a penetrative weapon?

Been a looong time since I was in, but my guess is the massive explosion, concussion, and shockwave over a large area will collapse the tunnels and compact the ground underneath the air burst burying, crushing, suffocating, and just general trauma to anyone in the complex.

Bunker busters are designed to penetrate specific hardened, reinforced, underground compound facility and is more of a "sniper" weapon as opposed to the "shotgun" area the MOAB covers.

To bring down a mountain for one,collapse the things and use up all the oxygen for hundreds of yards and cremate those close.
Its a wonderful thing.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
To bring down a mountain for one,collapse the things and use up all the oxygen for hundreds of yards and cremate those close.
Its a wonderful thing.

That brought Conan to me no: "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!"

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
Just a dumb question...but I know nothing about bombs...

Why did they drop an air blast bomb to destroy caves ?? Wouldn't one want to use a penetrating, bunker busting type ??

Moab is a thermobaric device which generates heat and pressure in a useful manner for "evacuating/dispatching" tangos in caves.


As noted above, penetrators are more of a "precision" weapon.

The video is only 30 seconds long, but it kinda gives an impression of what it's like to collapse a tunnel complex and kill 94 terrorists.

Pentagon releases video of the MOAB.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2...-in-afghanistan.html

The MOAB may be an "airburst", but it sure looks like it detonates real close to the ground (and reportedly makes a 300m blast crater).

These shallow caves aren't like concrete bunkers. The MOAB blast radius is a mile, it would totally f-up that complex. Wish we had them to drop in Tora Bora, 2001.

The MOAB does several things.

Great overpressure, and that, um, "disrupts the normal function of living things to the detriment of likely continued function".


Detonates about 6 feet above ground and downward forced propagation.

The blast radius also can destroy mines, IED, sensors and other defensive/offensive placements around a occupied and fortified areas.

The seismic component can collapse caves, and destabilize those left.

And anyone wandering around outside within the effective blast area are likely stop said wandering.

And it's a psych weapon.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
To bring down a mountain for one,collapse the things and use up all the oxygen for hundreds of yards and cremate those close.
Its a wonderful thing.

delightfully phrased and accurate as hell.

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
Just a dumb question...but I know nothing about bombs...

Why did they drop an air blast bomb to destroy caves ?? Wouldn't one want to use a penetrating, bunker busting type ??

Not a dumb question at all. I've learned a lot about weaponeering the past 10 years and the science was not intuitive to me.

Short answer: this solution prioritizes lethality over destruction. Those are not equivalent terms.

An explosion this large creates a massive, although brief, vacuum that will literally suck the life from humans in confined spaces. A bunker buster will penetrate deep and destroy something specific, like a buried nuclear reactor. It'll be lethal for folks around it, but not the whole facility. If you're hiding in a cave system and this explodes out front, you likely won't be effected by flame or frag but the pressure will liquidate your innards. If you're back further to avoid the over pressure it will still be lethal due to camped suction: your lungs will get pulled out your mouth and your eyes will come out. Seriously.

Bombs are a really gnarly way to die, even moreso in a confined space.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
For every militant they count, there could be many more buried inside the cave complex. Cave-ins, lack of oxygen, trauma, there are many ways the enemy might die underground.

One can only hope, eh?

tac

Add to that all of them taken out of combat temporarily due to the immediate need to empty their trousers.

I've been hearing some criticisms that we're "escalating" the Afghan war.



Escalation is what war is about, is it not? You keep escalating until the other side can't and gives up.