on Fri, Oct 12, 2001 at 03:58:36AM -0700, citizenQ (citizenQ@ziplip.com) wrote:
cpaul writes:
THE US 'ANNOUNCED' THEIR INTENTION TO USE B61-11 BUNKER BUSTERS ON LAST NIGHT'S NEWS BULLETINS (BUT SOMEHOW FORGOT TO REFER TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE CLASSIFIED AS TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS)
Confirmation?
Yes, I noticed this as well. I wonder how many euphemisms we will now hear for the word "nuclear" until the American public is informed after the fact how wonderfully the weapons have worked.
Possibly confused with this bunker buster: Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator
The Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) is a special weapon developed for penetrating hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. The GBU-28 is a 5,000-pound laser-guided conventional munition that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead. The bombs are modified Army artillery tubes, weigh 4,637 pounds, and contain 630 pounds of high explosives. 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.
Much more likely. Hard to imagine a scenario where tacnukes would be deployed.
That's my read.
Several press articles mentioned the GBU-28, and Rumsfeld mentioned it
(or was asked about it) specifically in a press conference Wednesday or
Thursday (NPR's on continuous-feed mode here). The only reference I saw
to the B62-11 specific to the current conflict was a Wired article "Nuke
'Em From On High"
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,47319,00.html
The device itself is nuclear (not merely a d-u casing, in fact I don't
see d-u mentioned at all), with yields from 300T - 300KT, in a focussed
charge.
Peace.
--
Karsten M. Self