Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Falling Fuel Tank May Have Caused Iran Blast (OOPS)
reuters ^ | 2-16-05

Posted on 02/16/2005 6:34:31 AM PST by Indy Pendance

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-137 last
To: Queen of Excelsior
Fox just reported that Iran now claims explosion was due to dam construction.

Next thing you'll hear is that Achmed ate one too many fava beans! Go boom!

121 posted on 02/16/2005 11:01:50 AM PST by Sally'sConcerns (It's painless to be a monthly donor!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: Samurai_Jack
OK, I think I got it. A pilot who was not shooting at the drone in front of him dropped a fuel tank and although they were over a nuclear facility the wind took it 110 miles and it hit a dam and exploded, but it was OK because there was construction going on there and he intended to do it.

I wanna media job.

122 posted on 02/16/2005 11:15:19 AM PST by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 116 | View Replies]

To: Dallas59

ROFL!

The Camel Herders would be surprised by that overhead.


123 posted on 02/16/2005 11:16:12 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

20-year old Soviet MiGs.


124 posted on 02/16/2005 11:20:14 AM PST by RockinRye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Billthedrill
OK, I think I got it. A pilot who was not shooting at the drone in front of him dropped a fuel tank and although they were over a nuclear facility the wind took it 110 miles and it hit a dam and exploded, but it was OK because there was construction going on there and he intended to do it.

I wanna media job.

YEAH!!!


125 posted on 02/16/2005 11:27:37 AM PST by Samurai_Jack (ride out and confront the evil!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55

What did Howard Dean say about Utah?


126 posted on 02/16/2005 11:30:49 AM PST by GretchenM (God doesn't ask us to live perfectly. He just asks us to trust Him and obey. - Joyce Meyer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: adam_az
Mi

Sounds logical. Gee, I hate when they shoot themselves. But the sure confirmation would be if they blamed it on Israel. The Jews are automatic scapegoats, so if they play the JOO card, it had to be self-inflicted.

127 posted on 02/16/2005 11:30:57 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Perdogg

Actually, now that you mention it, I bet that is what it was. They have figured out that they'd better be prepared to match us bomb for bomb if they want to survive an American attack.


128 posted on 02/16/2005 11:34:15 AM PST by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: NCC-1701

Electrical cable which attaches to a cannon plug on the missile rail of the aircraft.


129 posted on 02/16/2005 11:44:37 AM PST by A.A. Cunningham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: ken5050

Planes land on aircraft carriers now and have so for many years with unexpended ordinance and drop tanks all the time. The number one wire was dropped from the Reagans' arresting gear for a couple of reasons; the increased strength of the arresting wire sheaves and better arresting engines. Also, the number one wire, most aft, was rarely used on previous carriers, thus it could be eliminated.


130 posted on 02/16/2005 12:00:54 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55
1. Zionist attack on the liberated iranian nuclear infrastructure development.
2. Fuel Tank dropping off a passing aircraft.
3. Construction Blast

4. Geophysical Exploration
5. ???
131 posted on 02/16/2005 12:22:56 PM PST by Samurai_Jack (ride out and confront the evil!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Samurai_Jack
Explanation number 4 GeoPhysical Exploration

(CNN) -- A "geophysical exploration" caused a large blast Wednesday near the southern port city of Dailam in Iran, a local official in the Bushehr province said.

Oil exploration frequently takes place in the area, Iranian officials said.

RIGHT... thats why you need your nuclear facilities?

132 posted on 02/16/2005 12:26:07 PM PST by Samurai_Jack (ride out and confront the evil!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

To: A.A. Cunningham

Thanks..FYI I was just repeating what was said on the program..


133 posted on 02/16/2005 12:36:35 PM PST by ken5050 (The Dem party is as dead as the NHL..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant

Experts fear terrorists are seeking fuel-air bombs

* 09:45 21 March 2004
* Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
* David Hambling

Some experts fear that terrorists are trying to develop thermobaric and fuel-air bombs which can be even more devastating than conventional devices.


The Canadian defence research and development agency DRDC is taking the threat so seriously that it is testing thermobaric devices itself in an attempt to develop defences against them.

And the US Marine Corps is using computerised war games to devise tactics that could help minimise casualties if insurgents in countries such as Iraq use thermobaric weapons in attacks.

The devices use a small charge to generate a cloud of explosive mixed with air. The main explosion is then detonated by a second charge (a fuel-air explosion), or by the explosive reacting spontaneously with air (a thermobaric explosion). The resulting shock wave is not as strong as a conventional blast, but it can do more damage as it is more sustained and, crucially, diminishes far more gradually with distance.

The main explosion is followed by a partial vacuum, creating a suction effect that compounds the damage and can add to the injuries - hence the term vacuum bomb. In enclosed spaces, the devices also use up oxygen and produce choking fumes, suffocating any survivors of the initial blast.

Numerous industrial accidents attest to the power of thermobaric explosions - a massive blast in Iran this year has been blamed on a fuel-air explosion after a train carrying petrol derailed.
Reaching around corners

The Soviet Union developed a wide range of thermobaric weapons, which were used by Russia in the Chechnya campaign of 1999. A US Marine Corps study, based on interviews with Russian officers and Chechens, concluded that they were capable of killing troops in bunkers and destroying buildings that hadn't been reinforced. "Walls and surfaces do not necessarily shield victims," notes a US training manual.

This prompted the US to rush out the BLU-118 "cave-buster" for use in Afghanistan in 2001. More thermobaric devices have been developed since, such as a new "Hellfire" anti-tank missile used in Iraq.

These weapons were widely publicised. "A thermobaric Hellfire missile can take out the first floor of a building without damaging the floors above," the US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, told a press briefing on 14 May 2003. "It is capable of reaching around corners, striking enemy forces that hide in caves or bunkers."

There are signs that terrorists too are trying to create thermobaric weapons. For instance, in 2002 a tanker truck was used in a suicide attack on a synagogue in Tunisia, thought to be the work of Al-Qaida. Some experts think the way the fuel tanks were rigged with explosives shows a knowledge of fuel-air explosive techniques.

Designs for a fuel-air device were also acquired by the CIA from three alleged IRA members on trial in Colombia. The three are said to have been developing the bomb in conjunction with the country's FARC guerrilla group. "Although an IRA/Al-Qaida collaboration seems unlikely, the bottom line is that their respective manuals are probably in circulation," says David Ritzel, an explosives expert working for the DRDC.
Protection level

Defending buildings against such an attack would be extremely difficult. The deadliest conventional car-bomb attacks have been those where the attacker succeeded in getting a vehicle packed with explosives very close to the target.

To prevent this, concrete barriers have been placed around many buildings regarded as potential targets. But the barriers would have to be much further away than at present to provide the same level of protection against fuel-air devices of a similar size.

However, creating such devices poses far more technical challenges than making conventional bombs, says Stephen Murray, head of the DRDC's threat assessment group. Their aim is to develop software to predict how buildings will respond to thermobaric blasts and help design fortifications. Even small mistakes in the design or choice of materials can prevent fuel-air devices working, Murray says.

Unfortunately, terrorists could simply buy off-the-shelf thermobaric weapons on the black market. The Russians have used Shmel rocket launchers with thermobaric warheads for many years. They are available on the black market, and have turned up in the hands of the Cobra militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance.

The US Department of State has also accused one arms company of illegally supplying thermobaric weapons like these to both Iran and Iraq - a charge it has denied.

Western countries are developing similar weapons. The US created a bazooka with a thermobaric warhead called the SMAW-NE for the war in Iraq. China recently unveiled its own version, and the UK is also reported to be working on one - although the defence ministry insists that it is merely an "enhanced blast weapon".


134 posted on 02/16/2005 2:26:29 PM PST by Perdogg (Rumsfeld for President - 2008)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: GretchenM

Howard Dean said that the Dems would win Utah in 08.


135 posted on 02/16/2005 5:20:40 PM PST by ConservativeMan55 (DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: RockinRight

That'll leave a mark.


136 posted on 02/16/2005 5:22:52 PM PST by gathersnomoss
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55

He's an American, sooooo

he's entitled to his dreams, however warped,
his attempts at humor,
his trashing of America,
his bloviating.

Thanks for the info.


137 posted on 02/16/2005 5:28:52 PM PST by GretchenM (God doesn't ask us to live perfectly. He just asks us to trust Him and obey. - Joyce Meyer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 135 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-137 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson