The U.S. Air Force Is Trying To Make A Better Bomb

A 15,000-pound BLU-82, an air-to-surface conventional bomb, detonates after being dropped from an MC-130E aircraft in 2008. The AFRL is working on the next type of air-burst bomb that mimics the "Mother of All Bombs" but will probably be smaller, leaner and lighter. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Patrick Nichols)

Defense Tech: Future Air Force Weapon? Baby MOAB

The next “Mother of All Bombs” will probably be smaller, leaner and lighter but will still pack a punch.

It’s what scientists and engineers at the Air Force Research Lab are working on as part of their next-generation munition concept.

Part of the Advanced Ordnance Technologies program, the bomb could be structured to be lighter by using 3D-printed reconstructed loads within the bomb instead of in the casing — plus distributed blast yields, said Dr. John Corley, the core technical competency lead for ordnance sciences at AFRL.

“We’ve been working on printing [munitions] for the past five to 10 years,” Corley said Thursday during a Defense Department Lab day in the Pentagon courtyard.

Corley and colleagues were showcasing a prototype one-seventh the scale of a bomb the lab is working on (not pictured), along with various fuse technologies.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Here is a good article that explains two massive bomb types that are in the U.S. military (MOAB and the MOP) .... The Mother of All MOAB Articles (Mark Fredenburg, NR).