2RHPZ
05-28-2005, 10:44 AM
The Baghdad Strikes
By Adam J. Hebert, Senior Editor
July 2003, Vol. 86, No. 7
Early and late, the Air Force went downtown with swift, time-critical attacks.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes2.jpg
Weapons loaders in Southwest Asia equip a B-1B with a dozen 2,000-pound JDAMs and 1,000-pound “bunker busters.” Left: A B-1B takes off from Andersen AFB, Guam, for an OIF mission.
At about 1:30 a.m., planners selected two F-117s for the mission. They were to be piloted by Lt. Col. David F. Toomey III and Maj. Mark J. Hoehn. The mission was far from routine, and both aircraft would experience malfunctions on the way to Baghdad. However, a series of coincidences, hard work, and luck brought success minutes after dawn.
The first complication concerned the choice of weapon. Planners wanted the fighters to drop the best available munition, which was the EGBU-27 precision guided bomb. The problem was it had never been used in combat.
The EGBU-27 was unlike any of the fighter’s normal munitions. The “E” in the designation signified that these laser guided bombs had been enhanced with guidance from Global Positioning System satellites. Moreover, they were equipped with inertial navigation. Thus, each EGBU-27 could be guided to a precise location in three different ways.
However, the new guidance systems had arrived at al Udeid a mere 24 hours earlier.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes7.jpg
A weapons loader prepares a GBU-31 JDAM for installation aboard a B-1B.
Officials explained that two of the weapons used in the attack were Joint Direct Attack Munition GBU-31s with hard-target penetrators that burrow into the ground before detonating. The other two JDAMs were GBU-31s with 25-millisecond delay fuses, which followed the “bunker busters” into the crater.
Kowalski noted that use of the penetrating warhead effectively cuts the explosive weight of a weapon in half; thus, a 2,000-pound bomb becomes a 1,000-pound-class bomb. This is “a little more useful for the planners when they look into a dense environment,” such as the residential neighborhood targeted in this raid.
http://www.afa.org/images/mag_logo.jpg (http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes.asp)
EDIT: Photo added
http://www.afa.org/magazine/april2002/0402airwar1.jpg
USAF munitions specialists work on a JDAM on a B-52. The venerable bomber surprised everyone by taking on a close air support role in addition to traditional bombing. (USAF photo by SSgt. Shane Cuomo)
By Adam J. Hebert, Senior Editor
July 2003, Vol. 86, No. 7
Early and late, the Air Force went downtown with swift, time-critical attacks.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes2.jpg
Weapons loaders in Southwest Asia equip a B-1B with a dozen 2,000-pound JDAMs and 1,000-pound “bunker busters.” Left: A B-1B takes off from Andersen AFB, Guam, for an OIF mission.
At about 1:30 a.m., planners selected two F-117s for the mission. They were to be piloted by Lt. Col. David F. Toomey III and Maj. Mark J. Hoehn. The mission was far from routine, and both aircraft would experience malfunctions on the way to Baghdad. However, a series of coincidences, hard work, and luck brought success minutes after dawn.
The first complication concerned the choice of weapon. Planners wanted the fighters to drop the best available munition, which was the EGBU-27 precision guided bomb. The problem was it had never been used in combat.
The EGBU-27 was unlike any of the fighter’s normal munitions. The “E” in the designation signified that these laser guided bombs had been enhanced with guidance from Global Positioning System satellites. Moreover, they were equipped with inertial navigation. Thus, each EGBU-27 could be guided to a precise location in three different ways.
However, the new guidance systems had arrived at al Udeid a mere 24 hours earlier.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes7.jpg
A weapons loader prepares a GBU-31 JDAM for installation aboard a B-1B.
Officials explained that two of the weapons used in the attack were Joint Direct Attack Munition GBU-31s with hard-target penetrators that burrow into the ground before detonating. The other two JDAMs were GBU-31s with 25-millisecond delay fuses, which followed the “bunker busters” into the crater.
Kowalski noted that use of the penetrating warhead effectively cuts the explosive weight of a weapon in half; thus, a 2,000-pound bomb becomes a 1,000-pound-class bomb. This is “a little more useful for the planners when they look into a dense environment,” such as the residential neighborhood targeted in this raid.
http://www.afa.org/images/mag_logo.jpg (http://www.afa.org/magazine/july2003/0703strikes.asp)
EDIT: Photo added
http://www.afa.org/magazine/april2002/0402airwar1.jpg
USAF munitions specialists work on a JDAM on a B-52. The venerable bomber surprised everyone by taking on a close air support role in addition to traditional bombing. (USAF photo by SSgt. Shane Cuomo)