Positive evaluation of the use of military grade bomb to blow out forest fire

"Very successful". This is the verdict from the fire service and Swedish Air Force after the evaluation of the bombing of a wildfire with an over 200 kilogram heavy bomb in the region of Dalarna in July, reports SVT News Dalarna.

The idea of the bombing was to determine if the pressure wave from the bomb would cause the flames to suffocate. The analysis shows that the fire was extinguished completely at a radius of about 100 meters around the bomb's detonation site. The bombing did not cause the fire to become more intensive outside the extinguished area.

Two Gripen fighters jets that flew across the area and dropped the bomb. The fire on the shooting field was extraordinary, with hard to reach terrain , and large depots of live ammunition which could have posed serious danger to ground personnel.

Facts: GBU-49

The bomb that fell over the area were of the type GBU-49, a gps - and-laser controlled bomb of the so-called air-to-surface type, made to fire from the air towards the ground.

The bomb belongs to the Paveway product range and is manufactured by the American defense group Raytheon.

Paveway bombs represented more than half of the air-to-surface bombs fired by the United States during the Iraq war.

Source: Raytheon