
popcorn wrote:Too bad MOAB is too bulky. Maybe the US should consider investing in a new generation of thermobaric weapons, should do. good job messing up anything not in a HAS.
BLU-118 has a thermobaric explosive in a BLU-109 penetrator case. This would make for a few nice “big-ass holes” in the pavement that no one will be filling-in, in a hurry. A 4,500 lb version may be the business for a multipurpose F-35 airburst and deep penetration thermobaric weapon.
BLU-118/B Thermobaric Weapon
The BLU-118/B nomenclature was first reported on 21 December 2001, and this weapon is clearly unrelated to the BLU-118 500 lb. napalm canister used during the Vietnam war.
The BLU-118/B is a penetrating warhead filled with an advanced thermobaric explosive that, when detonated, generates higher sustained blast pressures in confined spaces such as tunnels and underground facilities. The BLU-118/B uses the same penetrator body as the standard BLU-109 weapon. The significant difference is the replacement of the high explosive fill with a new thermobaric explosive that provides increased lethality in confined spaces.
The BLU-118/B warhead uses a Fuze Munition Unit (FMU)-143J/B to initiate the explosive. The FMU-143 fuze has been modified with a new booster and a 120-millisecond delay. All weapon guidance systems and employment options currently used with the BLU-109 warhead are compatible with the new BLU-118/B warhead. …
… The BLU-118B was successfully tested at the Nevada Test Site on 14 December 2001. During that test, a Guided Bomb Unit (GBU)-24 laser-guided weapon using the BLU-118B warhead was dropped from an F-15E attack aircraft. The laser-guided bomb was "skipped" into a tunnel and exploded with a delayed fuze, which produced a significant growth in overpressure and temperature in the tunnel. When compared to the standard BLU-109 explosive, results showed the new thermobaric weapon generated a significant improvement in overpressure and pressure-impulse in the tunnel complex.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military ... lu-118.htm
25 to 30% more impulse.
Responding to the need for improved capabilities to defeat enemies seeking refuge in tunnels in the early-days of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, ARA helped deliver a 25%-30% improvement over the existing BLU-109 bomb. …
https://www.ara.com/projects/blu-118-bomb-development
… The BLU-118/B bomb body can be attached to a variety of laser guidance system packages, including the GBU-15, GBU-24, GBU-27, and GBU-28 laser guided bombs, as well as the AGM-130 missiles.
BLU-118B weapon operational concepts include vertical delivery with the bomb detonated at or just outside portal, skip bomb with short fuse (1st or second contact), skip bomb with long fuse (penetrate door, max distance down adit), and vertical delivery to penetrate overburden and detonate inside the tunnel adit.
https://www.ara.com/projects/blu-118-bomb-development
In the same way you could employ 7 equidistant pure fission bombs to replicate or exceed the shock destruction effects of a single 1 Mt device, 2xF-35 with 2x4,500 lb thermobaric weapons each, using MADL to coordinate precise targeting and timing of releases, could scale in the same way, to largely recreate the effects of a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (minus the C-130 special-delivery).
If you want more bang add one more F-35 ... or two ... or three ... etc.
The MOAB drop in Afghanistan could potentially be replicated by just two stealthy F-35, with little or no warning indication.
https://youtu.be/-K1myT-mIt4
Wery nice for cleawing away weef top ... or air base buildings ... or any base for that matter ... or any tunnel/bunker complex.
Accel + Alt + VLO + DAS + MDF + Radial Distance = LIFE . . . Always choose Stealth