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âMassive Ordnance Air-burstâ Bomb Set to Go if War Begins
ABC News story, blah, blah, then they get to the good stuff:When and if the United States does go to war, military sources say the United States is preparing a monster new weapon to be used during the first nights. Ooooh, monster weapons! It's called MOAB, short for "massive ordnance air burst" bomb. It is a modern, bigger version of the 15,000-pound "Daisy Cutter" used in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and Afghanistan. Sources say MOAB â still experimental â is a 21,000-pound bomb that will be pushed out the back of a C-130 transport and guided by satellite. I can just picture a Herky bird squeezing this puppy out the back door. Bet it looks like it's taking a big dump. Because it is not dropped by parachute, as was the old Daisy Cutter, the aircraft can let it go from far higher altitudes, making it safer for U.S. pilots. Herk pilots will like that. The MOAB's massive explosive punch, sources say, is similar to a small nuclear weapon. A very, very small one, but we get the point. It is intended to obliterate a command center hidden in tunnels and bunkers or a concentration of Iraqi tanks. If it's a air burst weapon, I can't see it doing too much to buried command centers. Anybody on the surface will be toast. Wonder if you can set the fuse to go off underground? Whatever the target, it must be far from cities where civilians might be hurt. ABC is worried about civilians. But one important aspect of using this type of weapon, sources say, will be psychological impact on enemy troops. It is intended to terrorize Iraqi troops, drastically reducing their desire to continue the fight. Ah, no, it's intended to kill large numbers of Iraqi troops. That will drastically reduce the desire to fight of anybody left alive. Posted by: Steve 2003-02-26 |
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