Carlton Meyer
THE SUB-ATOMIC BOMB
After nuclear bombs were developed, improvements to the explosive power of conventional bombs ended. Billons of dollars were spent to make nuclear weapons smaller, safer, and more powerful. Although, nuclear weapons have not be used since 1945, research into more powerful conventional bombs is non-existent.
A huge conventional bomb should be developed which can be dropped by C-5 and C-17 transports. It could be rolled out the rear cargo door just like air-dropped cargo. The C-5 can carry up to 500,000 lbs of cargo and fuel, the C-17 173,000 lbs so dropping a 150,00 to 400,000 lbs "sub-atomic" bomb in theater is not unrealistic, assuming the high altitude surface-to-air missile threat has been surpressed.
The largest conventional bomb today is the BLU-82 15,000 bomb, which contains a GSX explosive slurry. They are dropped out the back of C-130 cargo planes. During operation DESERT STORM, American U.S. Air Force Special Forces units dropped 11 BLU-82s. Most were targeted at minefields, although their effects as far as we know from open sources---were never studied.
http://www.specialoperations.com/blu82.html
Since these bombs also create a mushroom cloud like a nuclear bomb, many Iraqi Soldiers fled for home.
BLU-82s were used during the Vietnam to create instant landing zones, hence the nickname "daisy cutters". A little know historical fact is that the South Vietnamese Air Force used C-130 Hercules dropped BLU-82s to break up a multi-division assault on Xuan Loc outside Saigon in 1972. Hopefully, our military will realize that dropping these bombs from C-130s or CH-53 helicopters is the best method to clear minefields, create landing and drop zones and a good technique to break up major enemy ground attacks.
The primary reason that larger bombs were not developed is because of the dangers of transport and storage. The accidental explosion of a huge bomb could destroy an entire friendly airbase. This danger can be overcome with the use of the binary weapon concept used for chemical munitions. Leaks or accidents with chemical weapons had worried everyone for years. The solution was develop binary warhead consisting of two chemicals which are harmless themselves, yet very toxic when mixed. These "half-warheads" are stored and transported separately, and only joined on the battlefield just prior to use. During flight downrange the chemicals mix to form a deadly gas.
This concept could be used for "BLU-200000" sub-atomic bombs, which would consist of two explosive slurries which would be stored and transported separately. They may be sealed in 200,000 lbs. containers which would be bolted together prior to use, or perhaps they would be kept in tank farms and moved by tanker trucks and pumped into a bomb shell aboard the C-5 or C-17.
Mixing the explosives should not occur at the airfield due to safety concerns. Tests will determine the best time to mix the explosives. Perhaps the aircrew would remove the retaining wall within the bomb and use a motor to turn blender blades inside the bomb to mix the explosives while airborne. Or the bomb could be designed so that it spins while it falls, causing the heavier chemical on top would mix with the lighter chemical below. Accurate strikes from 30,000 feet can be assured with GPS guidance or fiber optic systems.
Binary weapons would provide another advantage. Our military uses "stable" explosives which are much less powerful than those used by commercial firms. Military explosives require a large shock to ignite, even fire and regular bullets do not cause them to explode. However, the binary weapon concept could allow much more powerful explosives. Therefore, a binary 400,000 lbs sub-atomic bomb could explode with three times the force of standard military explosives, equally a 1,200,000 lbs bomb.
Our Air Force would no longer "attack" enemy airbases or staging areas, it could destroy them completely with one BLU-200000 sub-atomic bomb. The Air Force could send a squadron of C-5s- C-17s with sub-atomic bombs and devastate any large military force with an explosion equal to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
A single 1,200,000 bomb is superior to 1200 1000 lbs bombs because it creates a massive overpressure shockwave which can crush large buildings and kill people inside tanks or bunkers. These bombs should not be used against cities, but enemy troop concentrations or airbases are fair game. If these bombs were dropped in Kuwait, the mushroom would have been seen throughout the theater, and all Iraqi troops would have quickly run out for home.
Sub-atomic bombs cannot be jammed, and can destroy everything from a heavy tank to a foot Soldier. They do not produce radiation and are not banned by treaties or created negative political reactions over anything "nuclear". Finally, sub-atomic bombs are extremely demoralizing to enemy Soldiers who have seen its destructive powers. The development of sub-atomic bombs should be a top priority during the post-Cold War era.
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e-mail May 1998