24th March 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom: Glide bombs on their trolleys on the hangar deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Image details
Contributor:
Johnny Saunderson / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
H46EDNFile size:
18.7 MB (673.5 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
2953 x 2215 px | 25 x 18.8 cm | 9.8 x 7.4 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
24 March 2003Location:
Northern Persian GulfMore information:
A neat row of glide bombs on their trolleys in the hangar deck of the flagship of America's Fifth Fleet, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), in the northern Persian Gulf. Ready to be brought up onto the flight deck. These glide bombs are effectively cluster-bomb cannisters: AGM-154A Joint Standoff Weapons or JSOW. Each cannister contains 145 BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomb (CEB) sub-munitions. These bomblets have a shaped charge for armour-defeating capability, a fragmenting case for material destruction, and a zirconium ring for incendiary effects. Behind the glide bombs are conventional 500lb bombs, each fitted with a JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition), a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather "smart" munitions. A couple of sailors keep guard in the background. The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 20th March to 1st May 2003 and signalled the start of the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19th March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the War in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein.