Mine-clearing personnel at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, found an 1,100-pound Russian penetrating bomb containing 167 pounds of explosives about 200 feet from the base’s runway. Normally, an explosive ordnance disposal team would blow unexploded ordnance in place, but, in this case, its proximity to the runway presented a problem. EOD airmen dug a trench and built up a mound of dirt around the big bomb, then placed a C-4 high-explosives charge to blow it up. Officials say the weapon was left over from the Afghan-Soviet Union war of the 1980s.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
