Air Force's last Daisey Cutter goes KA-BOOM!!

Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron at Duke Field dropped the very last BLU-82 bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range on July 15th marking the end of its explosive career with the US military. Affectionately referred to as "Commando Vault", "Daisy Cutter", and my favorite, "the Cheeseburger", the BLU-82 was the largest conventional bomb in the US Air Force's fleet until its successor, the GBU-43/B MOAB (Massive Ordinance Air Blast, aka Mother Of All Bombs) surpassed it in size five years ago. The un-guided BLU-82 was originally designed to clear small forests for instant helicopter landing zones and was even in use as of Operation Enduring Freedom for a "significant psychological and tactical effect" according to Col. Jon Weeks, the 919th Special Operations Wing Vice Commander. The immense BLU-82 weighs in at 15,000 pounds and is so large, it has to be pushed out the back of a MC-130E Combat Talon transport aircraft and fall to the ground with a parachute as seen in the picture below. With a 38 inch fuse extender, the BLU-82 would detonate above ground wiping out everything without leaving a crater, hence the name Daisy Cutter. The newer MOAB surpasses the Daisy Cutter by 6,700 lbs and is GPS guided.



(U.S. Air Force photos/Capt. Patrick Nichols)
(Air Force Link)

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