the Afghan bomb/etc

[harmonica]

..this is not a thread on Afghanistan, but the bomb/bombs/tactics/etc
..I see some sties that say vehicle bomb and some say terrorists wearing the bombs
...for 13 Marines/etc killed, it had to have been a big blast and/or the Marines were too close together ....they should've have been wearing body armor and helmets - which, I take it, they were
....was this like Beirut where a vehicle got up to the Marines/etc?
...a little explosives go a long way--it doesn't take much--but 13 + dozens of Afghans? seems like this would have to have been a ''large'' vehicle bomb close to the victims

 

[occupied]

There is a video of the guy wearing the vest. I heard 30 pounds of C4.

 

[harmonica]

occupied 30 lbs goes a long way .....doing a quick search, I see a 155mm arty shell has about 15lbs of explosive ......kill radius about 50 m ......troops in the open...yes, I can see that 30lbs doing a lot of killing
...so the blast effect is the ''kill power''....?

 

[Anomalism]

Oftentimes shrapnel does a lot of the injuring/killing.

 

[harmonica]

Anomalism the body armor is designed to stop shrapnel.....did this bomb have a lot of shrapnel?

 

[Anomalism]

did this bomb have a lot of shrapnel?

Possibly. I honestly know almost nothing about this specific incident. I just know that often with a blast it isn't the blast itself that is injuring/killing most of the people, but instead the shrapnel and debris flying around at incredible speeds. This is especially true of grenades.

 

[harmonica]

Anomalism I was in the USMC for 8 years...mortarman.......threw grenades, etc
...I don't think the bomb used in the 20 July plot against hitler had any shrapnel and the blast did a lot of damage..I think it was about only 2 lbs...3 dead, 20 injured
..you had splinters/etc from the hitler bomb blast

20 July plot - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Gabe Lackmann]

You don't need a vehicle, especially given the concentration of people at the gate. One guy, vest w/30lb C4+projectiles more than enough.

 

[harmonica]

Gabe Lackmann..that's a problem--close together

 

[Mushroom]

...so the blast effect is the ''kill power''....?

Not only that. It is many things.

Altitude of blast, shape of the explosive, type and placement of shrapnel. Surrounding structures, a great many things actually go into figuring out what that is.

But general rule of thumb, if talking about 30 pounds of explosives roughly the kill radius unless inside a bunker is around 15-30 meters from the detonation. And if this was like most suicide vests, it had explosives almost all the way around the torso, creating a largely fan shaped blast wave, around 160 degrees front and back. With shrapnel packed in front of the explosives to maximize casualties.

 

[Mushroom]

I don't think the bomb used in the 20 July plot against hitler had any shrapnel and the blast did a lot of damage..I think it was about only 2 lbs...3 dead, 20 injured
..you had splinters/etc from the hitler bomb blast

Because it was inside the building. In fact, it was inside a reinforced concrete bunker. Almost none of the force left the room, it was concentrated so that just the concussion did significant damage. 4 dead, 13 wounded.

That is the same principal that makes "flash-bangs" so effective when used inside. When used outside, they do not do all that much. But when thrown into a building, the concussion can even knock people unconscious. Yet, those waiting outside the room are just fine.