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Bruce In Bangkok Bruce In Bangkok is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Dec 2008
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Default Yeah, I know "plonk"

On Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:18:29 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

On Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:13:48 -0500, Marty wrote:

There were quite a few 5000 pounders dropped, takes out most of a city
block,,, but damned accurately....


What 5000 pounders? Nobody ever built that particular size.

Casady


Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28)

A pair of chartered Airbus A310 transport aircraft carrying 5,000-lb
GBU-28 bunker buster bombs staged through Scotland's Prestwick
International Airport outside Glasgow on 22 July 2006 to refuel and
give the crew a rest before continuing to deliver the bombs to Israel.
At least two more flights were anticipated before mid-August.

The GBU-28 laser guided bomb was developed, built, tested, and used in
combat in a 17 day period. The deepest Iraqi bunkers were secure from
the best penetrating bomb, the GBU-24A/B, with the I-2000 warhead.
Coalition leaders required the capability to destroy these vital
command and control facilities. Texas Instruments and Lockheed
combined their efforts to build the 18 ft long bomb. TI adapted the
seeker from the GBU-24 and Lockheed built the bomb body from discarded
eight inch howitzer barrels. The Air Force initially contracted for 30
bombs but the cease fire started after only two were employed. Two
more of the bombs were used in testing before the bombs were dropped
in combat and the Air Force expended two or three more in additional
tests after the war. The Air Force ordered an additional 100 GBU-28s
with the BLU-113 (8 inch gun barrel) bomb body and stocks remained low
due to the limited number of targets and the only fighter capable of
employing it initially was the F-111F.

The Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) bomb is designed to penetrate
hardened targets before exploding, capable of penetrating 100 feet of
earth or 20 feet of concrete. The GBU-28 was initially developed in
1991 for penetrating hardened Iraqi command centers located deep
underground. This "bunker buster" was required for special targets
during the Desert Storm conflict and was designed, fabricated and
loaded in record time. The GBU-28 is a laser-guided conventional
munition that uses a modified Army artillery tube as the bomb body.
They are fitted with GBU-27 LGB kits, 14.5 inches in diameter and
almost 19 feet long. The operator illuminates a target with a laser
designator and then the munition guides to a spot of laser energy
reflected from the target.

Some considerable confusion exists in the literature concerning the
weight of this bomb. Although nominally a 5,000 pound bomb, it appears
that the actual weight is somewhat less than this, and that the 5,000
figure is arrived at by rounding up [the 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 pound
figures for the Mk80 family are also such approximations. Statements
that it is a 4,000 pound bomb reflect a similar rounding, but rounding
down and rounding rather further from the exact number. Reports that
the bombs weigh 4,637 pounds, and contain 630 pounds of high
explosives, are too precise to be in error. Reports that the bomb
weighs 4,700 pounds are in close agreement with this more precise
number. A report that the bomb incorporates a 4,400-pound penetrating
warhead may reflect the weight of the filled bomb body, minus guidance
head and tail kit.


Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)