This Is What It Looks Like When A 2,000-Pound Smart Bomb Blows Up A Tiny Ship

The U.S Air Force released photographs of a Sept. 4 bomb test in which a solo B-1B flew into this tiny pirate boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Because why not?

Now you see it.

Now you see it.

U.S. Air Force Dyess Air Base / Via theaviationist.com

Now you don't.

Now you don't.

U.S. Air Force Dyess Air Base / Via theaviationist.com

The test bombing is apparently meant to show that the bomber (a GBU-10 bomb dropped by a B-1) can be effectively deployed against small sea-borne surface targets, such as pirates, or other small moving objects.

A single GBU-10 bomb costs $23,700. The weapon was developed in the 1980s for the USA's Cold War needs, but was not used until 1998, when President Clinton issued a military strike in Iraq.


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