U.S. forces destroy targets near base in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

U.S. forces destroy targets near base in Iraq
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 14, 2007

COMBAT OUTPOST CAHILL, Iraq — A barrage of heavy bombs and rockets obliterated five homes and targets as close as 500 yards from Combat Outpost Cahill shortly after midnight Monday.

A B-1 bomber dropped 2,000-pound bombs on some structures and four 500-pound bombs on another, 3rd Infantry Division soldiers said. A Multiple Launch Rocket System took out other targets, they added.

The abandoned homes and an observation tower were being used to stage attacks and watch Cahill, say soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade.

“In three months, we had three complex attacks … and they were getting progressively longer,” said Sgt. Paul Bates, a forward observer from Knoxville, Tenn.

The last such attack on the outpost came Nov. 6. Another attack came a month ago, when insurgent fire put a hole through an Apache helicopter rotor and forced an emergency landing, said the Company B commander, Capt. Richard Thompson.

Soldiers searched houses in the nearby area along the Tigris River and found shell casings, personal effects and other evidence of activity, but not permanent residence, Bates said.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50247



uhc comment: Meet the Mk 84

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_84_bomb



The Mark 84 is an American general-purpose bomb, the largest of the Mark 80 series of weapons. Entering service during the Vietnam War, it was nicknamed "Hammer" for its considerable power.

The Mark 84 has a nominal weight of 2,000 lb (908 kg), but its actual weight varies depending on its fin, fuse, and retardation configuration, from 1,972 lb (896 kg) to 2,083 (947 kg). It is a streamlined steel casing filled with 945 lb (429 kg) of Tritonal high explosive.

The Mark 84 is capable of forming a crater 50 ft (15.2 m) wide and 36 ft (11 m) deep. It can penetrate up to 15 in (380 mm) of metal or 11 ft (3.3 m) of concrete, depending on the height from which it is dropped, and causes lethal fragmentation to a radius of 400 yards (366 m).

Many Mark 84s have been retrofitted with stabilizing and retarding devices to provide a precision guidance capabilities. They serve as the warhead of a variety of precision-guided munitions, including the GBU-10 and GBU-24 Paveway laser-guided bombs, GBU-15 electro-optical bomb, and GBU-31 JDAM.


Here's a pic of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon's GBU-10

And a pic of the Raytheon GBU-24

A pic of Rockwell International's GBU-15