Footage of the BLU-82B "daisy cutter" bomb in 1970. Designed to create an instant clearing in the jungles of Vietnam, it has also been used an anti-personnel weapon because of its very large lethal radius (280m).
The BLU-82 uses conventional explosive incorporating both agent and oxidizer. In contrast, fuel-air explosives (FAE) consist only of an agent and a dispersing mechanism, and take their oxidizers from the oxygen in the air. The minimum altitude for release due to blast effects of the weapon is 1,800 m above ground level. The warhead contains 5,700 kg of low-cost GSX slurry (ammonium nitrate, aluminium powder and polystyrene) and is detonated just above ground level by a 965 mm fuse extender, optimized for destruction at ground level without digging a crater. The weapon produces an overpressure of 1000 psi near ground zero.
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