schow%bcarh185.bnr.ca@watmath.waterloo.edu (Stanley T.H. Chow) (11/30/90)
From: bnr-vpa!schow%bcarh185.bnr.ca@watmath.waterloo.edu (Stanley T.H. Chow) In article <1990Nov29.002106.18319@cbnews.att.com> ifaq570@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (allen kitchen) writes: > Speaking as one who has first hand knowledge of what the B52 >can do as far as damage, using this plane in this conflict is a good >idea. It shouldn't be the first plane over the border, by all means, >but one B52 can make a city block into a parking lot in under 10 secs. I assume you mean parking lot for tanks and/or very big truks. I don't think my car can climb over all the debris. :-) Also, your figure of "10 secs" sounds very suspicious. As I recall, the B52 is subsonic, the only damage a B52 can do within 10 secs is to its own airstrip. (Oh, you mean the time it take the bombs to drop? Isn't that time more or less constant for most planes?) [mod.note: I would presume the point is that the B52 can do it in one pass, instead of several missions. - Bill ] >As far as accuracy goes, we usually could land our bombs within 5-10ft >of target. It got to the point we were so cocky we >would ask who the command wanted to die first in the target site... You should have told this to the Pentagon Brass. They could have saved the U.S. tax payers a whole lot of money by not developing all those new gold-plated smart bombs/bombers/missles/... Also, that would have saved the Pentagon the embarrassment of the Tipoli raid. Stanley Chow BitNet: schow@BNR.CA BNR UUCP: ..!uunet!bnrgate!bcarh185!schow (613) 763-2831 ..!psuvax1!BNR.CA.bitnet!schow Me? Represent other people? Don't make them laugh so hard.
leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) (12/06/90)
From: leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) In article <1990Nov30.021021.7527@cbnews.att.com> bnr-vpa!schow%bcarh185.bnr.ca@watmath.waterloo.edu (Stanley T.H. Chow) writes: : : :From: bnr-vpa!schow%bcarh185.bnr.ca@watmath.waterloo.edu (Stanley T.H. Chow) : :In article <1990Nov29.002106.18319@cbnews.att.com> ifaq570@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (allen kitchen) writes: :>As far as accuracy goes, we usually could land our bombs within 5-10ft :>of target. It got to the point we were so cocky we :>would ask who the command wanted to die first in the target site... : :You should have told this to the Pentagon Brass. They could have saved :the U.S. tax payers a whole lot of money by not developing all those :new gold-plated smart bombs/bombers/missles/... :Also, that would have saved the Pentagon the embarrassment of the Tipoli :raid. :Stanley Chow BitNet: schow@BNR.CA While the Circular Error Probability numbers are still classified, I can attest to the fact that the probability of hitting targets from high altitude bombing runs in those orders of number are such that I would be the last to stand on the target even if they were dropping cast iron bombs. This too is from first hand experience. Lee "Mit Pulver und Blei, die Gedanken sind frei." |Lee F. Mellinger Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA |4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/393-0516 FTS 977-0516 |leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV
major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) (12/09/90)
From: bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) In article <1990Dec6.021500.18233@cbnews.att.com>, leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) writes: > While the Circular Error Probability numbers are still classified, I > can attest to the fact that the probability of hitting targets from > high altitude bombing runs in those orders of number are such that I > would be the last to stand on the target even if they were dropping > cast iron bombs. When targetting for B-52 strikes - 'grid squares' are targetted - not coordinates. The size of the target is dictated by the number of aircraft in the strike cell. The smallest cell - 3 B-52s - are given a target of 1Km by 3Km. The largest strike I know of (Vietnam - Feb'67) consisted of 18 B-52s striking a target 6Km by 6Km. The Minimum Safe Distance (MSD) for friendly troops is 3Km from the target 'box'. For patrols/recon operating in 'free fire zones' a 6Km by 6Km No Bomb Zone is established. BTW: The 'big' strike mentioned above was designed to 'burn off' the triple-canopy jungle in War Zone C - with all B52s carrying incindiary bombs. Huge forest fires were caused - the heat so intense - it formed big black rain clouds - which doused the fires......................... (Only the 'top' canopy was burned). Back to the drawing board. mike schmitt