fltsload Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 The last active Bomb Live Unit-82 in the Air Force inventory was detonated at the Utah Test and Training Range July 15 with the assistance of the 919th Special Operations Wing from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. \"This BLU-82 was dropped as part of the aging and surveillance program for the weapon,\" said Capt. Andrew Jauhola of the 582nd Missile Maintenance Squadron at Hill Air Force Base. \"The data gathered will give us more information on the shelf life of the explosive used in the weapon.\" The BLU-82, also known as the \"Commando Vault\" bomb or the \"Daisy Cutter\" bomb in reference to its specific nose fuse assembly, was originally designed to clear landing pads for helicopters during the Vietnam War. The 15,000-pound bomb detonates prior to ground contact, leveling a 250-foot radius without leaving a crater in the ground. Eleven BLU-82s were dropped during Desert Storm, all from Special Operations MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft, and in 2001, four Daisy Cutter bombs were dropped in Afghanistan on tunnels reportedly holding top al-Qaida leaders, according to the GlobalSecurity.org Web site. The BLU-82 warhead contains 12,600 pounds of gelled slurry explosive, which is prepared by combining a mixture of aqueous ingredients. Once the material has gelled, it is detonated by a high explosive booster. The aqueous gel solution in the BLU-82 breaks down over time and the warhead must be destroyed as a precaution. At its inception, the BLU-82 was considered the largest and most powerful chemical bomb. Since the bomb is too heavy to be carried on bomber or attack aircraft bomb racks, it must be launched from the rear cargo hatch of an MC-130 or C-130 Hercules aircraft and stabilized during the drop with a parachute. The 919th SOW assisted with the aerial drop of the BLU-82 with its MC-130 aircraft on July 15. Hill AFB personnel have worked extensively with this warhead for the past seven years. The 506th Combat Sustainment Squadron of the 784th Combat Sustainment Group at Hill AFB refurbished the BLU-82 bomb cases in 2001 and loaded the cases with the gel slurry explosive. In 2002, extensive testing and modeling was conducted to extend the shelf life from one year to seven years. \"Since that time we have validated that shelf-life extension through daily monitoring of the interior temperatures and pressures,\" said Gordon Guymon, a bomb engineer with the 506th CSS. \"Part of our validation testing effort includes live tests of the BLU-82s in stockpile.\" Six BLU-82s have been used for training and flight testing by the 582nd MMXS over the past four years, Guymon added. There are no plans to produce more BLU-82 bombs by the Air Force at this time. Inactive static displays of BLU-82s appear at military museums, such as the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talonlm Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 :woohoo: Pictures to follow . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1685FCC Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I had the luxury of going on this drop with the 7th SOS back in the summer of 2006. That was one of the highlight TDY\'s of my career so far. It was a pretty remarkable feeling sitting in the cargo bay with this big sucker! I have some footage of it leaving the aircraft and that is about it. We had combat camera on board, but this knucklehead decided to follow the pallet all the way to the ground instead of the freaking bomb! When the thing went off he panned the camera to where the explosion was and all you saw was the dust cloud, rookie! Good time though! Laters! DaveB) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivars Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 here is what someone sent me resized [img size=640]http://herkybirds.com/images/fbfiles/images/blu82_1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivars Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 second one [img size=640]http://herkybirds.com/images/fbfiles/images/blu82_2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivars Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 third one [img size=640]http://herkybirds.com/images/fbfiles/images/blu82_3.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivars Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 last one [img size=640]http://herkybirds.com/images/fbfiles/images/blu82_4.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyclark Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 You forgot, \"Hey Y\'all, watch this!\" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEFEGeorge Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Always thought that these babies would make a great infantry dispersal bomb. Hell with the cluster bombs. Couple of these babies and poof no more enemy infantry. Or houses. Or IED, maybe... B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 George I like your thinking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfisher Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 I rember the first time our crew droped the bomb back in1971 I came out to preflight and they were loading this thing on the plane i had never seen one i didn\'t know we had such a thing . It was an exciting mission.Back then it was a top secert. I was in the 772ndTAS stationed at Clark TDY to Vietam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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