Vietnam-era 'Daisy Cutter'
clears a path to the Taliban
By Wayne Specht, Stars and
Stripes
The bomb is so big, it can’t be dropped. It has to be pulled by
parachute out the back of a cargo plane.
And the Air Force unleashed it over Afghanistan.
The BLU-82, a 15,000-pound fuel-air explosive bomb dubbed “Daisy
Cutter,” was dropped on Taliban positions behind the front lines on Sunday, The
Associated Press reported.
It earned its nickname because it is detonated about three feet above
ground, and it clears a 900-foot radius.
Large weapons such as the Daisy Cutter are viewed not only as intense
firepower, but also as psychological pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida forces.
More precise target information from Russia and from U.S. special
operations forces on the ground have helped the United States escalate attacks on caves
and tunnels in Afghanistan that have been identified as Taliban arms depots and command
centers, the AP said.
The Daisy Cutter was first used by the Air Force in the final year of
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War for clearing thick jungle areas to create instant
landing zones for Army helicopters.
Air Force documents call the BLU-82B weapon system “Commando
Vault.”
It is a general-purpose “dumb bomb” loaded aboard newer
versions of the C-130 Hercules, a four-engine workhorse used by the Air Force for more
than 30 years.
Because the bomb lacks a tail fin assembly, the same parachute that
pulls the weapon from the back of the C-130 keeps its nose down as it falls.
The warhead contains 12,600 pounds of explosives and is detonated
just above the ground by a 38-inch fuse probe extending from the bomb’s nose.
It produces enough power to level trees and buildings.
Eleven BLU-82s were dropped during Operation Desert Storm, all from
special operations C-130s known as Combat Talons.
The initial drops were intended to test the bomb’s ability to
clear mines; however, no reliable assessment was completed because the war didn’t
last long enough.
The crew of a MC-130E Combat Talon special operations airplane
dropped a BLU-82 bomb near an Iraqi position.
The bomb detonated in an explosion that momentarily lit up the entire
front.
A leaflet drop warned Iraqi soldiers more such bombs would be dropped
on their positions; the threat was believed to be responsible for mass defections,
including almost all of one Iraqi battalion’s staff.
Each Daisy Cutter costs $27,316, according to the Federation of
American Scientists Web site.
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