Is this really unexploded ordnance?

CNN.COM ^ | 10-15-01 | me

[finnman69]

I wonder if this is really unexploded ordnance or is this maybe a drop tank? Any experts care to weigh in? The scale of this picture is a little misleading with that figure in the background, but on news footage i saw this weekend this object appeared to be 8' to 10' long.

[rlbedfor]

Looks like a drop tank to me. I have some experience working for General Dynamics in Comparative Vehicle Analysis.

[finnman69]

I think it looks like a drop tank also. If it was a bomb it probably would be a different color also. Plus there is no precision guided seeker package at the nose or any trace of it. Looks like the media got this one wrong.

[Dakmar]

I think it's Bin Laden's "Personal Pleasure Device".

[ZOOKER]

I'm no expert but I'll guess: This is too big to be a standard "dumb" bomb and shape doesn't match either FAE, "daisy cutter", or "bunker-buster" types (large special purpose bombs).

If it is a UXB, it would have to weigh at least 2000 lbs. If you drop something that heavy from 30K feet, it would bury itself in the ground at least six feet. This object is laying on top of the ground, which tells me it's empty space inside.

[finnman69]

Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.....

good one

[wjcsux]

I think it is adrop tank, also. Looks like it may be off of an F/A-18.

[TomGuy]

It's what's left of their missle that requires (required) 30 trucks to carry.

[Bill Rice]

I was watching Fox yesterday morning when they showed footage of "activity at a forward airbase in Uzbekistan"

It was Navy planes taking off from a carrier, complete with catapults and blast shields that raised up from the deck.

Did anyone else catch this?

[Cold Heat]

Definately a drop tank. I was wondering when someone would post a pic of the thing. Dumb news reporters!

[isthisnickcool]

It's something small that fell out of Richard Gere's a$$.

[Cliff Dweller]

Looks to me to be a "keep tank", they may be referred to as drop tanks, but the past reality has always been to KEEP them.

It is difficult to see, but there do appear to be three ports between the lugs, that would be consistent with an external fuel tank.

How it got on the ground is a mystery...could have been a switchology problem....

Former A6 Bombardier

[finnman69]

you mean like this.....

[FreedomPoster]

No, I didn't see that, but I did see Hackworth on Fox this AM. He made the statements "Our press corp is mentally deficient with respect to the military" and "They wouldn't know a tank from a turd."

I would view the report you saw as proof. Even Fox.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Looks like an elephant's tusk to me.....

[danielobvt]

Looks to me to be a "keep tank", they may be referred to as drop tanks, but the past reality has always been to KEEP them.
Could they have dropped it to increase the aerodynamic profile of the aircraft if they were doing something that required the full performance of the aircraft? What that could be over Afgan, I do not know, but is that a possibility?

[Dudoight]

That is what I think, or a tusk of a wild pig.

[willyone]

Drop tank. Seen and been next to bunches of them. Also looks like the fill hole between the two hang points. It also appears crushed or distorted on the bottom. They are made of fiberglass and would deform like this.

[sean327]

It's definately a drop tank.

[Cliff Dweller]

If performance is an issue, then we have been under-engineering our platforms. Delivery of ordnance typically doesn't require the extreme edge of the envelope flying. The only thing enhanced by dropping it is reduced parasitic drag, (or in some cases increased drag because of the loss of an aerodynamic store).

In any case, it found its way to earth, perhaps looking for added benefits from a dumb luck hit.