U.S. Air Force’s New CLEAVER Cargo Plane-Launched Bomb Is Being Touted As A Game-Changing Weapon

A CLEAVER 2-pack Pallet is deployed from MC-130J Aircraft. (Courtesy photo)

Forbes: Why U.S. Air Force’s CLEAVER Could Be A Step Change In Air Weapons

Last week the Air Force announced it had successfully test-dropped a new type of munition called CLEAVER from one of its special operations MC-130J Commando II aircraft. In one sense this is just the latest in a long history of releasing weapons from transport planes, but in another it is a milestone towards a very different type of air strike.

The Commando II is a heavily modified version of the four-engined C-130 Hercules transport, which proved itself a surprisingly effective bomber during the Vietnam War. The new role came out of Project Commando Vault, a U.S. Army effort to create landing sites for helicopters in dense jungle using explosives. No existing bomb was powerful enough, and this led to the development of the mammoth BLU-82, a 15,000-pound monster delivered by parachute. Too big for bombers, the BLU-82 was dropped by C-130s. Rather than the standard TNT, the BLU-82 was loaded with a high-energy gelled slurry explosive of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum. The blast created a landing area which would otherwise take weeks to clear.

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Update: US Media Says Air Force’s New CLEAVER Cargo Plane-Launched Bomb is Potential Game-Changing Weapon (Sputnik).

WNU Editor: The U.S. Air Force announcement of this test is here .... AFRL, AFSOC launch palletized weapons from cargo plane (Wright-Patterson AFB).