Great Golly Gosh! That is one hell of a lot of explosives.
I've got to call bullshit on this one. How in the world are they going to move 1.5 million pounds of explosive, much less detonate it?
"We also have -- are you ready for this - a 700-tonne explosively formed charge that we're going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada," he said.Anyone here familiar with shaped charges? I am.
Shaped charges are used to penetrate armor. Tank penetrators take two forms, the kinetic energy rounds normally called SABOT rounds, and shaped charges, normally called HEAT rounds. The both work well, but differently and tank crewmen can choose between them to complete a mission. Shaped charges work by funneling the energy of the explosion onto a small portion of the target. The shaped charge sets up a plasma wave and cuts through the armor. The science is much more technical, but you get the idea
."And that represents to us the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem," he said.What problem? A five pound shaped charge will penetrate all known vehicle armor currently used by our adversaries. I can see using a larger charge to penetrate bunkers and buildings, but 1.5 million pounds? Seems like overkill to me.
The aim is to measure the effect of the blast on hard granite structures, he said.And to determine how much standoff is needed to remain safe. I think anything under a couple of miles might be considered Danger Close.
Of course, the reported underground nuclear program in Iran probably doesn't ahve anything at all to do with this. Just pure science, trying to decide how much of X explosive it takes to penetrate Y feet of granite. Purely coincidental, I'm sure.
I think this report is bullshit, but then again, if it isn't, I'm glad these guys are on our side.
Oh, and someone might ought to let Las Vegas know what is going on.
Hat tip to the Rottweiler.