Navy Wants To Bomb More At Avon Park (FL) (2000 bombs, Hellfire missiles).

[madfloridian]

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050216/NEWS/502160367/1039

Navy Wants To Bomb More At Avon Park
Plans call for using live bombs up to 2,000 pounds at the range.

By Cory Reiss
Ledger Washington Bureau

SNIP..."The Navy plans to more than triple its bombing missions at the range and begin dropping live 500- to 2,000-pound bombs in addition to dummy bombs, which have been the main air-to-ground ordnance dropped there since World War II."

"We've been trying to steer a little more business their way since I got elected," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a Bartow Republican who represents the district that includes Avon Park. "The good people of Puerto Rico helped us out immeasurably."

He said more bombing requires more base staff and improvements, which means economic benefits for surrounding areas. As for endangered wildlife on and around the range, Putnam and the Navy say the fauna have gotten used to noise by now. The scrub jays know how to duck and cover," Putnam said.

"The Navy would fly about 900 planes in a typical year from aircraft carriers during three 20-day maneuvers. The jets would zip across the coasts to drop 783 live bombs and 1,776 dummy bombs. But the Navy could use the base for as many as 3,024 flights in a year, dropping up to 1,545 live bombs, if world events warrant using the base for a maximum of six exercises. The Navy also would ramp up helicopter training with Hellfire missiles.

"The plan comes as Florida officials try to defend the state's military bases from the next round of base closures and to keep the USS Kennedy, a carrier based near Jacksonville, from being mothballed. A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush said increasing missions is a good thing....."END SNIP

[ewagner]

1. Is that near Lake George?

I remember as a kid when the Navy dropped LIVE 500 lb bombs at Lake George....it rattled our windows in Sanford.....50 some odd miles away.........

This CAN'T be a good idea because of the population density north of Lake Monroe and Deland.???????

[oneighty]

3. Would that be Pinecastle

near Umatilla Florida?

180

[madfloridian]

5. DeLand is north of Avon Park.

The Sebring, Avon Park area is in the south central part of the state.....I would say about an hour and a half, two hour drive from the Orlando area.

I am really concerned about this. I think of the very foundation of Florida being affected by the massive bombs being dropped.

We are the new Vieques.

[oneighty]

2. Any thing for a buck.

War = Dollars

Peace is bad.

While we are at it lets drill for the oil in the Florida waters. Good money to be made there too.

180

[davidinalameda]

4. they get more money from tourism than from drilling

and drilling would cut into tourism if there was a spill

they know who butters their bread

[madfloridian]

6. I have a feeling this may be why....Jeb goes to DC to save bases.

I think this is part of the deal to save Florida bases. I think bombing like this at Avon Park and in the panhandle will have a devastating impact. Not just on Florida but other states as well. The physical impact of the weight of those bombs...

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/10840370.htm

Florida governor goes to D.C. to fight for Florida military bases
BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush travels to Washington on Tuesday for talks with key lawmakers in hopes of reversing plans that might scrap the Florida-based aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy and to win assurances for the future of the state's military bases.

Another round this year of the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process could threaten the 21 military installations and three unified commands in the state.

The gulf complex and Florida bases, including Eglin, Key West Naval Air Station and Avon Park Air Force Range, have taken on added importance for training with the 2003 closure of a Navy bombing range on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico."

[oneighty]

8. Hey madfloridian.

How DO you feel about this? Oil drilling-bombing ranges (Lot of them in Florida) Eglin AFB too. And of course the military and the military vote in Florida by active military claiming Florida as their home for tax purposes and voting in Florida by absentee ballot while living elsewhere (Perhaps). And so on.

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[madfloridian]

11. Hey, oneighty! I don't feel very good about my state.

There have been so many things here to be upset about that I just lose count of which one is the worst and most recent.

I hate this bombing range thing, and the fact they are having a hearing in Avon Park on it is too much. They are going to have a sort of rally meeting, a rah rah thing.

It doesn't say there will be choices, though.

[denverbill]

7. Why do they need to use live munitions?

Doesn't a 500 lb bomb with no explosives in it fly at precisely the same trajectory if loaded with 500 lbs of inert mass?

The only reasonable explanation I can give for it is cause 'blowing stuff up' is fun.

[Charon]

9. Live Ammunition

Probably yes, but the effect at impact is very different, hard to tell at 600mph if you hit your target or not. In training, a lot of inert ordnance is used. But for realistic combat training, you have to use live munitions. Secondly, a good check to see if the weapons work. A good example of not using live weapons for training occured when we fired several hundered torpedoes at Japanese ships during WWII, only to find out most did not explode due to a defective triggering component. This was discovered when the torpedos were test fired against a rock cliff in Hawaii.

[denverbill]

10. It's hard to tell at 600mph even using live explosives.

However, we managed to get some awfully good movies of bombs tracking to their targets during the Gulf War in 1991. If the cameras mounted to the planes won't do the trick, then a ground camera or camera in a separate plane or helicopter could certainly do the job.

By all means test the weapons. But I'm pretty sure I could come up with a site that isn't host to 12 endangered species of wildlife.