Northrop Grumman Pitches 30,000-Pound Guided Bomb To Air Force

[Random Variable]

<< Fri Dec 14 2001 10:40:25 ET

Northrop Grumman has briefed Air Force officials on a concept to field a 30,000-pound guided weapon, called 'Big BLU,' that could be used as a penetrator to destroy hardened targets that may house enemy leaders or weapons of mass destruction, DEFENSE DAILY reported on Friday.

The proposal may gain favor with the Pentagon as the military tries to kill Al-Qaeda leaders holed up in Afghan caves. An Air Force official said, however, that the weapon will have significant cost and schedule hurdles associated with aircraft integration, is only a concept and is not envisioned for use during the Afghan conflict.

Developing... >>


http://drudgereport.com/flash2.htm

 

[yobarman]

wow thats like dropping a hundred fat chicks on em.

 

[gittyup]

Zip tie or duct tape that sucker to a B1 and let's rock and roll.

 

[vi edit]

<< wow thats like dropping a hundred fat chicks on em. >>



Or 5 really big SUV's

 

[Random Variable]

bump

 

[Keego]

<< Zip tie or duct tape that sucker to a B1 and let's rock and roll. >>



picturing this made me almost spit out milk all over my laptop!

 

[Rudee]

Wow, Impressive.

 

[Sukhoi]

What the heck would we carry it in?! Maybe a B-52H or B-1B could carry it. I highly doub the B-2A could. There'd also have to be some major redesigning of the bomb bays I would think. I guess they could also drop it out of a C-130/C-17, but you wouldn't want to try doing that over defended airspace.

Edit: I just checked and the X-15 weighed over 30,000 lbs fueled, so you could put probably one of these bombs on a B-52H wing pylon, but it would be quite a lopsided plane.

 

[Random Variable]

<< What the heck would we carry it in?! Maybe a B-52 or B-1 could carry it. I highly doub the B2 could. There'd also have to be some major redesigning of the bomb bays I would think. I guess they could also drop it out of a C-130/C-17, but you wouldn't want to try doing that over defended airspace. >>


but what are we using right now to drop those Vietnam-era "daisy-cutters?"

 

[Sukhoi]

C-130.

 

[ElFenix]

i think the c 130 is being used to drop the daisy cutter. so maybe this would need a starlifter or a galaxy. or maybe the spruce goose!

 

[PsychoAndy]

30,000 pounds is a helluva lot of bomb. But it IS from drudgereport so i'm skeptical.

First off, the mount must be hella big and strong, seeing as it has to support 30k pounds.

Second, they already have pretty good penetrating weapons. During the gulf war, they made a guided bomb out of old 223 mm. artillery barrels filled with explosives. I doubt they really need one that's 30k pounds

 

[b0mbrman]

<< 30,000 pounds is a helluva lot of bomb. But it IS from drudgereport so i'm skeptical.

First off, the mount must be hella big and strong, seeing as it has to support 30k pounds.

Second, they already have pretty good penetrating weapons. During the gulf war, they made a guided bomb out of old 223 mm. artillery barrels filled with explosives. I doubt they really need one that's 30k pounds >>



Come on now...are there really people out there who are saying to themselves "You know what, those 15,000 pound bombs just don't cut it"

 

[Sukhoi]

<< 30,000 pounds is a helluva lot of bomb. But it IS from drudgereport so i'm skeptical.

First off, the mount must be hella big and strong, seeing as it has to support 30k pounds.

Second, they already have pretty good penetrating weapons. During the gulf war, they made a guided bomb out of old 223 mm. artillery barrels filled with explosives. I doubt they really need one that's 30k pounds >>



Yeah, 30,000 lbs is a LOT of bomb! :Q In WWII the British had the 22,000 lb bomb on the Lancaster, so it is possible.

You're thinking of the GBU-28. It's ~4,500 lbs, and is the one everyone keeps talking about that can go through 100 ft of stone or dirt or whatever.

I can't imagine how long a 30,000 lb penetrating bomb would have to be. The crossectional surface area can't be very big or it's going to have a ton of drag trying to burrow its way down. If this is true, maybe they're going with a hardened uranium nosecasing or something. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a large rocket engine on it, like the Durandal.

 

[PsychoAndy]

<<

<< 30,000 pounds is a helluva lot of bomb. But it IS from drudgereport so i'm skeptical.

First off, the mount must be hella big and strong, seeing as it has to support 30k pounds.

Second, they already have pretty good penetrating weapons. During the gulf war, they made a guided bomb out of old 223 mm. artillery barrels filled with explosives. I doubt they really need one that's 30k pounds >>



Come on now...are there really people out there who are saying to themselves "You know what, those 15,000 pound bombs just don't cut it" >>



Actually, I bet a lot of people do. The air force thinks it NEEDS that extra 15k pounds to blow more s#it up.

 

[Random Variable]

The most effective penetrating weapon the United States has in its arsenal is the 1,200 lb B61-11 gravity bomb, but I doubt we'll ever use it.

BTW, the daisy-cutter has virtually no penetrating capabilites.

 

[Sukhoi]

The B61 isn't exactly penetrating is it? I thought they were airburst?

The Daisy Cluster is a FAE bomb isn't it? Just a big cloud of fuel that explodes. It goes wide, not down.

 

[Random Variable]

<< The B61 isn't exactly penetrating is it? I thought they were airburst? >>


The B61-11 is a nuclear "bunker-buster"

 

[Nefrodite]

maybe its just a double length daisy cutter, but the guidence would be great since i don't hink normal daisy cutters have em at all. b2's can carry more then one daisy cutter right? plus, there would be uses, its a perfect moral deflator, esp with accuracy. i wonder how many normal daisy cutters even got close to their targets.

 

[Random Variable]

<< b2's can carry more then one daisy cutter right? >>


no, they can't carry them at all

 

[Nefrodite]

maybe i meant b52, i suck with aircraft names

 

[Sukhoi]

AFAIK the only aircraft in the US arsenal that can carry the Daisy Cluster is the C-130 (though I'm sure a C-17 could if needed).

Cool, I didn't know any of the B61's actually went into the ground before exploding.

 

[rahvin]

The B52 can't drop the "daisy cutter" either. They push the thing out of the back of a transport, in this case the C130, the bomb sits on a skid with it's paracute, it's the size of a tank.

 

[Mandrill]

The Daisy cutter isn't a FAE. It is dropped out of the back of a c-130 on a sled which is dragged out via parrachute. A second parachute opens on the bomb itself as the sled falls away. It has a 3 foot long detonator on the end so it detonates 3 feet off the ground (obviously) Supposedly incinerating everything 600-900 feet away from "ground zero"

As far as a 30,000 pounder goes, I'd love to see one go off. The Daisy Cutter detonation has been descibed as looking like a mini nuke going off. Infact, during Desert Storm, some Brits who were in the area of a DC detonation were quoted as saying "The bloody Yanks nuked them"

 

[Random Variable]

<< Cool, I didn't know any of the B61's actually went into the ground before exploding. >>


Supposedly, the energy released from the nuclear reaction would create a shockwave that would completely obliterate everything to a depth of several hundred meters.