NP: Reality Check

[Judy Panetta]

I received this from my father-in-law this morning...a
retired AF pilot. I found the descriptions oddly fascinating
and indeed sobering.

"Some of you might be interested in this or have family that
you could inform.  I Never dropped anything like this. Bill
B.

"Subject: Daisy Cutter, This was circulating in USAF
circles - written by a retired two star.

"Since daisy-cutters (aka BLU-82s) are in the news these
days, thought you might be interested in a little discussion
of their application to terrorists. Just a little
explanation of some of our capabilities: The BLU-82
'daisy-cutter' is not some esoteric form of cookie cutter.
The moniker is a nickname, given by military men who handle
them, to hypo barometric fuel-air mixture bombs. Nicknames
being ephemeral, they are often called f-a's as well, short
for "fuel-air".

"Hypo-barometric refers to the fact that these things are
activated above ground surface at a given atmospheric
pressure calculated to clear the surface of structures and
life. Everything within a 600 yard radius, 1200 yard
diameter, is incinerated; all protoplasm within a 1 mile
radius, 2 mile diameter, is essentially pulverized by the
extreme overpressure, which requires that the bomb be
dropped from a special operations C-130 Hercules from at
least 6000 feet.

"The 'fuel-air' mixture is dispersed (by an appropriate
charge detonated first) into a cloud in the atmosphere where
it mixes with the surrounding air producing a chemical (vice
nuclear) explosion burning all available oxygen within 600
yard radius to produce a rapid expansion of gases. The first
generation of daisy cutters used gasoline, making them a
HUGE Molotov cocktail. The second generation, in current
use, uses aluminum powder which is highly explosive and
burns extremely hot. They cover a mile wide diameter when
detonated and reach temps circa 10,000F. The blast generates
pressures sufficient to crush underground tunnels, even
reinforced arches 12 feet deep are crushed.

"Third generation daisy cutters use uranium powder which
burns even hotter, etc. Note: this is still not a nuclear
device but both 2nd and 3rd generation fa's are easily
mistaken for such as they produce a similar mushroom cloud.
Initially the blast uses up all nearby oxygen, vaporizing or
melting everything. When the atmospheric oxygen does finally
rush back in, approximately 15 seconds later, every organic
compound ignites spontaneously creating another smaller
explosion contained within the mushroom cloud. The ground
blast pattern yielded resembles that of a daisy shaped
cookie cutter."