US Air Force drops laser-guided GBU-10 bomb on tiny motorboat

[Indian Tiger]

The US Air Force had something to prove. So it dropped a 2,000 pound, laser-guided bomb on a tiny, empty motorboat in the Gulf of Mexico.
The test bombing run, performed by the B-1B “Lancer” supersonic bomber, was supposed to demonstrate the plane’s ability to really, really annihilate “small seaborne surface targets”, otherwise known as motorboats.
A laser-guided, GBU-10 bomb was used for the exercise. According to The Washington Post, those bombs cost more than $23,745 a pop, so luckily the plane hit its target.
The images were posted on the website of the US Air Force Dyess Air Base, because when you have this sort of military prowess, you want to show it off.

Air Force drops bomb on tiny boat | New York Post
Suprised by its accuracy..

 

[Sergi]

A laser-guided, GBU-10 bomb was used for the exercise. According to The Washington Post, those bombs cost more than $23,745 a pop, so luckily the plane hit its target.

Luckily !!! What does that mean ??? @gambit

A laser-guided, GBU-10 bomb was used for the exercise. According to The Washington Post, those bombs cost more than $23,745 a pop, so luckily the plane hit its target.

Luckily !!! What does that mean ??? @gambit

 

[bangstick]

That pic looks phony.

 

[That Guy]

I like to imagine that the guy who fired it, this was his boat. One day he came home from work and found his boat with another man. In a fit of anger and jealousy, he donated it to the air force for target practice purposes.

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@Indian Tiger

Why are you surprised by it's accuracy? It's a laser guided GBU-10 bomb.

 

[gambit]

Luckily !!! What does that mean ??? @gambit

It means the technology works so as not to embarrass US if it missed.

On land, if a bomb is a near miss, at least the odds of doing damages to the intended target is still excellent. Not so on water. The bomb will sink and its exploded depth may be deep enough to rough up the (missed) target a bit but no real harm done. Not only that, since the bomb exploded underwater and water is much denser than air, water will absorb a lot of the blast. So to do any real damage to the surface target, it must detonate literally at water surface if it missed the target itself.

But all joking aside...This is a real stinker for any potential adversary wishing to do any kind of asymmetric attack on a US capital ship, like an aircraft carrier, by way of many small boats. Like how often the Iranians here dreamed of using this tactic against US aircraft carriers and how often they brought up Millennium Challenge 2002. Of course, it never occurred to them how quickly can we devise a countermeasure. But then underestimating US is common enough.

 

[gambit]

Come to think of it...The bomb does not need to be a bomb, as in having an explosive charge. If the technology is proven accurate and precise enough, and it does look like it, simple concrete filled head will do just fine. Small boats like these cannot go far with a large hole in its hull.

 

[forcetrip]

$24000 is nothing when buying a bomb. Secondly, that is extremely accurate for a bomb that size. Its like a motorboat was hitting a motor boat. I guess this is bad news for the zerg rush strategy. This is what a 2000lb bomb born in the 1990's can do, I would not know what else is in store.

 

[Oldman1]

$24000 is nothing when buying a bomb. Secondly, that is extremely accurate for a bomb that size. Its like a motorboat was hitting a motor boat. I guess this is bad news for the zerg rush strategy. This is what a 2000lb bomb born in the 1990's can do, I would not know what else is in store.

The size of the bomb does not matter when dealing with accuracy.

Go to time index 1:08.
Next Gen Cruise Missile - YouTube

Check out South Korean tests.
South Korea F-15K JDAM , SLAM-ER , and GBU-24 - YouTube

 

[gambit]

$24000 is nothing when buying a bomb. Secondly, that is extremely accurate for a bomb that size. Its like a motorboat was hitting a motor boat. I guess this is bad news for the zerg rush strategy. This is what a 2000lb bomb born in the 1990's can do, I would not know what else is in store.

Next month, presstv will come out with something about Iran able to 'hack' these guided bombs, turn them back up in the air, and fly them back to the parent aircraft.

 

[forcetrip]

The size of the bomb does not matter when dealing with accuracy.

In a matter pertaining to physics you are 100% accurate. The size wouldn't matter if you are dealing with laser designators. Therefore this test shouldn't be awe inspiring. But it is. That's because of its size of the guided bomb smacking into a movable target of practically its own size.