Stardate 20011007.1654 (On Screen): Among other targets being hit are certain airports. Reportedly the airport at Herat is being struck; it is home to some of the Taliban's air force, such as it is. Given that they would have had minimal access to supplies of spare parts, it's likely that few of their jets are still airworthy. Still, they are a potential threat, especially if we're
sending unarmed cargo planes in to drop food, so they have to be neutralized. Air fields have been recognized for a long time as a strategic asset; indeed that was what most of the initial bombing by the Germans targeted in the Battle of Britain. We have weapons specially designed for attacking such targets, and they can be carried by cruise missiles. They're sort of like cluster bombs. The difference is that a cluster bomb bursts and scatters its bomblets in a circular area. For these special weapons, the bomblets are released in a stream. The cruise missile is programmed to fly along the airstrip (yup, they're that accurate) and trigger its weapon starting at one end, spreading bomblets along the length of the air strip. There are at least two kinds of bomblets which are released. The first kind penetrate the strip and then detonate, cratering the surface. The second kind don't go off immediately; they're mines and they are very sensitive once they arm themselves. Their purpose is to prevent the enemy from repairing the airfield; before that can even begin, they have to clear all the mines out of the way. It doesn't permanently ruin the strip, but of course it can be reattacked this way if need be. There's a larger version of this which can be used from a jet, which is much more effective; however, because the jet has to fly quite low, it's risky to use if there's active AAA in the vicinity.
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