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MOAB update

Y_lifter

New member
I'll let you know if I hear it...


Giant Bomb To Be Tested At Fla. Base Today
Posted: 8:24 a.m. EST March 11, 2003
Updated: 11:18 a.m. EST March 11, 2003

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A conventional bomb so big that its first name is "massive" is set to be tested for the first time at this Florida Panhandle base Tuesday.
Air Force officials Monday warned residents of communities surrounding the western half Eglin's 724-square-mile military reservation to be prepared to hear an explosion that sounds like thunder or a slamming door between noon and 5 p.m. CST although the blast will be miles away.

The loudness of the 21,000-pound "massive ordnance air burst," or MOAB, will vary depending on wind currents and some people may not hear it at all, Eglin officials said in a brief news release.

They added that the test will be conducted only under weather conditions best for minimizing the sound and inside a buffer zone to keep a shock wave and debris from the explosion inside Eglin's boundaries. The backup date for the test is Thursday during the same time frame.

MOAB is similar to but 40 percent heavier than the 15,000-pound BLU-82, billed as the world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb and known to send up a mushroom cloud similar to a nuclear weapon.

The BLU-82, nicknamed "daisy cutter," was developed during the Vietnam War to create jungle clearings for use as helicopter landing areas. It was most recently dropped in Afghanistan on caves where al-Qaida leaders were suspected of hiding.

In the Persian Gulf War, it was used to clear minefields. MOAB is expected to be ready for use this year if the test is successful.

Areas where civilians may be able to hear the blast are Mary Esther, Navarre, Holly, Holt and western Crestview.
 
Nathan and his Star Destroyer laugh at your silly little bomb!

Tigress.jpg
 
I did not hear it, but I guess 300 miles was a bit too far

'Massive' Air Force Bomb Shakes Fla. Buildings
Updated: 3:14 p.m. EST March 11, 2003

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The largest conventional bomb in the U.S. military's arsenal was tested Tuesday at a Florida Panhandle base, shaking some buildings in neighboring towns.
The 21,000-pound bomb exploded shortly after 2 p.m. EST, but no further information was immediately available, Eglin officials said. It was dropped out the rear of a C-130 transport plane and is guided to its target by satellite signals.

Some have wondered if the test was meant to show the bomb was ready for use in a war against Iraq.

The U.S. military could use "anything we have in the arsenal'' in almost any stage of development against Iraq, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing Tuesday.

"We're certainly not going to deploy something that is not ready yet,'' he added.

Some area residents felt the bomb go off, but the explosion was not as big as they expected.

At the Best Western hotel in Navarre, on the base's southern edge along the Gulf of Mexico, the blast was barely noticeable, said Patricia Sariego, a receptionist. She stood in the lobby talking to guests when it went off.

"We really didn't hear anything,'' she said. "It just shook the doors. We were expecting something bigger to shake us. It was kind of weak.''
 
Damn, here I thought this was a thread about going jeeping in Moab, Utah. :(
 
Maybe it was the angle of the shot or something but I wasn't too impressed by the blast, I expected more.
 
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