The Number Of ISIS Fighters Killed By The MOAB Is Nothing Short Of Staggering

[rangerrebew]

The Number Of ISIS Fighters Killed By The MOAB Is Nothing Short Of Staggering

Saagar Enjeti
Reporter
9:35 AM 04/15/2017

Nearly 100 dead bodies have been pulled from Islamic State caves targeted Thursday by the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. military’s arsenal, Afghan military officials told The Wall Street Journal.

Afghan officials say the death toll is likely to increase as U.S. and Afghan Security Forces continue their damage assessment and clear the formerly held ISIS territory. The U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs” on ISIS’s headquarters in Afghanistan after repeated efforts to expel the militants failed. No civilian casualties have been reported yet by the U.S. or Afghan military.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/15/the-number-of-isis-fighters-killed-by-the-moab-is-nothing-short-of-staggering/#ixzz4eR36FiQ3

[Wingnut]

Rack'em, Stack'em and Pack'em like cord wood. 

[Suppressed]

Rack'em, Stack'em and Pack'em like cord wood.

That line always reminded me of Butcher Pete...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fc1wr3dYxU

[bigheadfred]

Yay for us.

[dfwgator]

It's a start.

[ConstitutionRose]

Good start, yes.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@Suppressed

That line always reminded me of Butcher Pete...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fc1wr3dYxU

Soundtrack elevates F3 over its successors.

[Smokin Joe]

The Number Of ISIS Fighters Killed By The MOAB Is Nothing Short Of Staggering

Saagar Enjeti
Reporter
9:35 AM 04/15/2017

Nearly 100 dead bodies have been pulled from Islamic State caves targeted Thursday by the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. military’s arsenal, Afghan military officials told The Wall Street Journal.

Afghan officials say the death toll is likely to increase as U.S. and Afghan Security Forces continue their damage assessment and clear the formerly held ISIS territory. The U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs” on ISIS’s headquarters in Afghanistan after repeated efforts to expel the militants failed. No civilian casualties have been reported yet by the U.S. or Afghan military.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/15/the-number-of-isis-fighters-killed-by-the-moab-is-nothing-short-of-staggering/#ixzz4eR36FiQ3

You can run from the blast wave, but you can't hide....

[Smokin Joe]

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/archive/pdfs/NIOSH-125/125-ExplosionsandRefugeChambers.pdf

From mine studies, the blast wave causes secondary trauma by throwing people against fixed objects (or objects against people) At given overpressures, expect the following:

Peak                  Maximum 
overpressure     wind speed     Effect on structures       Effect on the human body
1 psi                     38 mph           Window glass shatters    Light injuries from
                                                                                        fragments occur

2 psi                     70 mph          Moderate damage to       People injured by flying   
                                                  houses (windows and      glass and debris
                                                  doors blown out and
                                                 severe damage to roofs)

3 psi                     102 mph        Residential structures       Serious injuries are
                                                  collapse                           common, fatalities may
                                                                                         occur

5 psi                    163 mph        Most buildings collapse      Injuries are universal,
                                                                                        fatalities are widespread

10 psi                  294 mph       Reinforced concrete           Most people are killed
                                                buildings are severely
                                                damaged or demolished

20 psi                  502 mph       Heavily built concrete         Fatalities approach 100%
                                                buildings are severely
                                                damaged or demolished

This would make the MOAB particularly effective against such targets as enemy combatants hiding in tunnels and caves.

[geronl]

100 is not staggering, it's not all that much really. I think we've killed more bombing "wedding parties"

[Maj. Bill Martin]

100 is a very large total for what you'd expect from dropping that much ordnance.  There's been various estimates done over time, but in the modern era, it's generally considered to cost in excess of $100,000 for each enemy soldier killed.  In Afghanistan, I'd expect the number is likely over $1M per, because the cost of anti-insurgent type campaigns is always higher.

https://bible.org/illustration/cost-kill-enemy-soldier

So, knocking off 100+ enemy soldiers with a bomb that cost less than $1M to make is an incredible bargain.  In fact, it's such a good return that we're unlikely to see that good a payoff even if we keep dropping them in other situations.

[Wingnut]

So, knocking off 100+ enemy soldiers with a bomb that cost less than $1M to make is an incredible bargain. 

Word is, if true, they cost $170K per unit*.

*  http://www.businessinsider.com/real-cost-of-moab-mother-of-all-bombs-170-000-2017-4

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Word is, if true, they cost $170K per unit*.

*  http://www.businessinsider.com/real-cost-of-moab-mother-of-all-bombs-170-000-2017-4

Yeah, I was being generous.

Apparently, the employment of that bomb was the equivalent of lighting the anthill on fire rather than just stepping on them one at a time.  Incredibly efficient.

Here's the other thing...you have to wonder if the military wanted to do stuff like this before, and the 20-something Ph.D candidates running stuff out of the NSC under Obama didn't squash it.  Wonder how many of our troops were killed because of our prior reluctance to actually apply the force required.  Very sad to think about, but nice to know that the generals are in charge of actually fighting the wars civilians send them to fight.

[Wingnut]

Here's the other thing...you have to wonder if the military wanted to do stuff like this before, and the 20-something Ph.D candidates running stuff out of the NSC under Obama didn't squash it.  Wonder how many of our troops were killed because of our prior reluctance to actually apply the force required.  Very sad to think about, but nice to know that the generals are in charge of actually fighting the wars civilians send them to fight.

Obama has blood on his hands both in our military conflicts and here at home. Not only was he a provincial putz but a traitor too.

[skeeter]

Yeah, I was being generous.

Apparently, the employment of that bomb was the equivalent of lighting the anthill on fire rather than just stepping on them one at a time.  Incredibly efficient.

Here's the other thing...you have to wonder if the military wanted to do stuff like this before, and the 20-something Ph.D candidates running stuff out of the NSC under Obama didn't squash it.  Wonder how many of our troops were killed because of our prior reluctance to actually apply the force required.  Very sad to think about, but nice to know that the generals are in charge of actually fighting the wars civilians send them to fight.

If the media covered the fighting under Obama as they did while W was president people would know US casualties in Afghanistan shot up from between 2008 and 2012.

So the answer to your question appears to be a considerable number of uniformed Americans.

[Smokin Joe]

100 is a very large total for what you'd expect from dropping that much ordnance.  There's been various estimates done over time, but in the modern era, it's generally considered to cost in excess of $100,000 for each enemy soldier killed.  In Afghanistan, I'd expect the number is likely over $1M per, because the cost of anti-insurgent type campaigns is always higher.

https://bible.org/illustration/cost-kill-enemy-soldier

So, knocking off 100+ enemy soldiers with a bomb that cost less than $1M to make is an incredible bargain.  In fact, it's such a good return that we're unlikely to see that good a payoff even if we keep dropping them in other situations.

When you consider the amount of ordnance dropped on the Pacific Islands during WWII, and the ability of dug-in troops to survive that, the idea of reaching into the depths of the anthill and getting those 'ants', too is a serious plus. Instead of bouncing shrapnel off the entrance, you bounce insurgents down the tunnels with the shockwave and serious compression from the blast. Humans don't handle overpressure well, with 5-10 psi crossing the LD50 curve, and if medical facilities are primitive, injuries finishing off many more.
In terms of weighing expenditure vs effectiveness, this is a move forward. 

[NavyCanDo]

When you consider the amount of ordnance dropped on the Pacific Islands during WWII, and the ability of dug-in troops to survive that, the idea of reaching into the depths of the anthill and getting those 'ants', too is a serious plus. Instead of bouncing shrapnel off the entrance, you bounce insurgents down the tunnels with the shockwave and serious compression from the blast. Humans don't handle overpressure well, with 5-10 psi crossing the LD50 curve, and if medical facilities are primitive, injuries finishing off many more.
In terms of weighing expenditure vs effectiveness, this is a move forward.

Made an excellent comparison. A good example is Shuri Castle on Okinawa.  Pounded day and night for 3 days by the battleship Mississippi.  When it was taken by the marines they found a bomb-proof room deep under it with around 500 Japanese troops with barely a scratch on them - but all dead just the same from the concussion of Missy's 14 inch shells

And when I read about what these tunnels outside of Kabul were used for,  - how ISIS would attack friendly troops protecting the city, then would move back into the tunnels where they were untouchable, it does remind one of Okinawa, or Peleliu and Iwo Jima. 

[bigheadfred]

Unrestrict the ROE, stop worrying about so-called civilian casualties, and the cost per enemy KIA drops.

[driftdiver]

When you consider the amount of ordnance dropped on the Pacific Islands during WWII, and the ability of dug-in troops to survive that, the idea of reaching into the depths of the anthill and getting those 'ants', too is a serious plus. Instead of bouncing shrapnel off the entrance, you bounce insurgents down the tunnels with the shockwave and serious compression from the blast. Humans don't handle overpressure well, with 5-10 psi crossing the LD50 curve, and if medical facilities are primitive, injuries finishing off many more.
In terms of weighing expenditure vs effectiveness, this is a move forward.

One of the articles said the blast displaces so much air it sucks the air right out of their lungs.

[Smokin Joe]

One of the articles said the blast displaces so much air it sucks the air right out of their lungs.

Napalm was reputed to do similar things to those in tunnels not immolated in the fire, by consuming available oxygen and heating the available air to deadly temps.

[Suppressed]

If the media covered the fighting under Obama as they did while W was president people would know US casualties in Afghanistan shot up from between 2008 and 2012.

So the answer to your question appears to be a considerable number of uniformed Americans.

It bothers me that conservatives donate so much money to campaigns and think tanks, yet nary a dime is spent on getting messages like that out in front of the public.

[kidd]

http://www.snappytv.com/tc/4453491

Check out the video. Amazing.
The bomb is dropped into a valley with a lot of spurs.
A few seconds after the bomb has exploded, the video shows that the spurs have all been smoothed out and most of the walls of the valley are collapsing by avalanche.

If the blast wave didn't kill the cave occupants, the collapsed cave entrances will suffocate the rest.

[Cripplecreek]

100 is not remotely "staggering" for this sort of bomb. I suspect there were more killed by much smaller daisy cutter bombs in vietnam.

In fact everyone seems to have forgotten that we used a similar bomb once in the first gulf war. British troops on the ground saw the mushoom cloud and thought we had used a nuke. I don't know how many were killed by it or even if killing was intended but if they had dropped it on an open desert concentration of troops the casualties could have been in the thousands.