20 October 2008

Cluster bomblet tumbled in cement mixer

I'm not categorically opposed to war per se, but I do consider cluster bombs, like unretrieved landmines, to be egregiously inappropriate. This video shows why.

Also relevant is a story in Der Spiegel this week (auf English) telling of the problem of unexploded live munitions from WWII still being recovered during construction and earthmoving activities in Europe. In Brandenburg alone over 600 TONS of such munitions are recovered every year.
...the state is particularly contaminated with American delay-action bombs which have become so unstable that it will soon be impossible to defuse them safely... They were designed to explode between two and 146 hours after hitting the ground, to disrupt clearing up work and cause chaos.

But many failed to go off because Oranienburg has soft soil with a hard layer of gravel underneath. That meant bombs would penetrate the earth, bounce off the gravel and come to rest underground with their tips pointing back upwards. In that position gravity stops the chemical detonators from working. They contain a vial of acetone which bursts on impact and is meant to trickle down and dissolve a celluloid disk that keeps back the cocked firing pin.

1 comment:

  1. In today's age of "surgical strike" precision, the use of the cluster bomb is highly reduced. As pointed out, it poses dangers long after deployment.

    ReplyDelete

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