First on CNN: US drops largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan

[jmowreader]

85. GBU-28s would have been more effective against him

The first GBU-28s were made by welding two 8-inch howitzer barrels end-to-end, stuffing one of them full of C-4 and the other one with solid rocket fuel, then attaching a laser guidance package and a delay fuze; they only started making GBU-28 cases after they ran out of howitzer barrels. The first time they tried dropping one it penetrated the earth to a depth of "over 100 feet" (it was a lot over 100 feet - the Air Force dug for two years trying to find the damn thing and finally gave up). They attached it to a rocket sled and fired it at a 22-foot-thick slab of reinforced concrete to test its penetrative capabilities. Most penetrating bombs make a nice big dent in this block. (The Durandal anti-runway bomb Trump should have dropped on that Syrian airbase penetrates 16 inches of concrete.) The GBU-28 went completely through and they found it over a mile downrange. At that point the Air Force decided it was fine and put them in service.

The GBU-28 is a perfect example of government engineering: the Air Force invented this thing all by themselves out of things they already had lying around, for no money, and went from initial concept to operational deployment in two weeks.