Preventing Old Bombs From Claiming New Victirms

How Air Force Database Is Preventing Its Old Bombs From Claiming New Victims -- Christian Science Monitor

The US military estimates that an Air Force lieutenant colonel is saving hundreds of lives a year through a new database he is creating of past bombing campaigns. He's also challenging the history books.

The work of one amateur historian in the US Air Force is quietly upending the conventional wisdom and history of America’s wars.

It is also helping to map the unexploded bombs of America’s air campaigns across Europe and Southeast Asia, saving hundreds of lives each year, by US military estimates.

It has the weighty warrior acronym of the old Nordic god of thunder: THOR, the Theater History of Operations Report, which is fast becoming a critical tool for Air Force officials.

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My Comment: That's a lot of bombs to map and find.

US Navy Seeks 'Safer' Bomb

Show some restraint (Image: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty)

From New Scientist:

COULD a variable-yield bomb reduce the number of innocent people killed or injured during an air attack targeting enemy soldiers? That's the thinking behind a US navy plan to develop a "dial-a-blast" bomb.

The navy is seeking proposals from companies to create a bomb weighing 200 kilograms that can either be detonated at full or reduced power. The idea is that the device could be loaded onto planes before a target has been identified, and the explosive power set by the pilot once a target is known. If there is a risk of killing civilians, then the explosive power can be reduced to ensure a small blast radius. In an unpopulated area the bomb, currently known as the Selectable Output Weapon, could be set so that it has the same power as a regular bomb of the same size. Carrying a single bomb would make it easier and cheaper for the navy to arm its planes.

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