Fun fact: I read about this bomb in the 1990's. It's code name amongst the armorers who fitted them to the drop aircraft was "Deep Throat".

There's something ironic about a barrel becoming a bullet.

*"The Bomb That Ended a War"* *Japanese PTSD*

I knew about using the barrels for this, but I didn't know how "improvised" it was. "Hold my beer..." 🤣

Imagine chilling 50+ feet underground in a secure sight miles from any combat and all of a sudden a metal telephone pole goes through three floors to your room.

I hope the engineer who realised you can use gun barrels for this got a massive bonus. It’s genius. Heavy but not wide, very strong and shock resistant, and with a hole in the middle for explosives.

I was a CNC machinist for 35 years in a factory that made large parts similar to these and this video really triggered some major nostalgia

The ammount of CNC footage and also public info in this video is insane..

It’s amazing and also concerning that people can work together extremely well to create ingenious solutions to kill each other

It amazes me to see a missile go through reinforced concrete and still maintain its shape.

This bombed Amiriyah shelter 1990 in baghdad and the U.S. Air Force killed at least 408 civilians, women and children were hiding from the fire of the war, not suddam, not his military members. Just 408 civilians murdered and burned alive. Please Look it up and educate yourself.

Imagine if they put this sort of effort and expense into projects that help people rather than how to Jill people in a bunker.

This is why engineers can literally connect the dots out of thin air to retrofit something for a given task. I mean who else thinks "well we need an extremely dense and stable shell casing for this bomb to penetrate straight into solid earth, and we need it yesterday..... what about artillery gun barrels?" *Begins to furiously make phone calls and order ungodly amounts of mountain dew*

Desert Storm was a perfect example of when you go into a conflict with the determination to actually win it. While I am critical of US foreign policy, the wars in the middle east in particular. I still have to stand in aw at that majesty that is operation desert storm, from the degree of industrial and military commitment, to swift execution, to the almost orchestral direction in the mosaic warfare strategy used. There will never be another conflict where so much goes the way it was planned and turns out so effective

Nuclear bombs hold the record for minimal number of test drops prior to deployment. There was a single test drop, Trinity, before the two bombs dropped on Japan, which should at least tie it with this bomb. However, not only were nukes employed first, but they were arguably all different weapons at that point: the reason one was called “little boy” and the other “fat man” was because one was rather large and oval while the other was smaller and cylindrical; they were two different types of bomb.

Well put together video on something that was needed today and was delivered yesterday.

To design, build and deploy a custom weapon in four weeks is freaking insane! This is a great example of how just about any engineering problem can be solved when the team feels urgency, has motivation, and an unlimited budget. LOL. This was not cheap! Great video.

minor correction, it has been done before. During WW2 the tallboy bomb was able to penetrate 16 feet of concrete or 60 feet of ground and explode within a bunker. It was actually designed to cause a massive shockwave and crater around a bunker to destroy it rather than directly exploding it. It was used from 1944 onwards on over 30 missions until the war ended

I remember hearing about this while fighting in the Gulf War. Not saying it won the war but was definitely a turning point. This boosted our moral tremendously.

That's incredible. Well done. Amazing

American weapons manufacturers: "How deep you want that this bomb penetrate?" US military: YES

Targeting military facilities and personell has proved to be long term effective. Targeting civilian population has proven to highly increase the enemy's determination and tenacity in combat. Targeting the generals and dictator of an invading country has proven hyper successfull. It's easy for dictators to send men to die at their command, while hiding in a bunker. But when they are the target, they smash the surrender button ASAP. It's the same now as it was with the ten plagues in egypt in the old testament. The pharao didn't budge until it hit him personally, no matter how much his people suffered. It seems to be a very old concept.

Best part about this channel is the story is told with just enough specs to tell the story instead of the a i channels with endless decimal places and useless info. Thanks!!!!! PS if you find your self driving by Watervilet, look for the Iowa class 16 inch barrel out front.

It’s kind of crazy that our most impressive feats of ingenuity and collaboration are in weapons of war. Doesn’t detract from the sheer impressiveness just makes it a bit sobering.

We had gone so far with military technology; from launching projectiles using artillery to launching the artillery itself!

I’m not sure what’s more impressive, it’s ability to go so far down, or that it was built and designed in four weeks.

Je re-viens voir cette vidéo exceptionnelle depuis la vidéo sur le F-111 et 3:25 tout est lié, c'est ce pourquoi je suis revenu voir cette vidéo that's the meaning of storytelling GG WP

Salute to the machinists I’ve seen them at work in their perspective fields it a very fascinating job.

I tell people all the time, the military is hugely efficient and inefficient at the same time. When something needs (or "needs") to be done, itll get done lol

as a machinist i can tell you. The machinists knew exactly what size to make it. The engineers just hadn’t proven it to themselves yet 😂

Fantastic video really enjoyed watching it thank you.

I wonder how they knew how to fuse the explosives properly. They must have known the approximate depth, or some sort of system that counts how many floors it busted through. Very impressive when you take this into account.

I had the honour to meet Barnes Wallace the designer of the Grand Slam 10 ton and Tallboy 6 ton bombs as well as the bouncing bombs made for the German dams. There were over a hundred engineering students at his lecture and he shook hands afterwards with all of us. When Grand Slam was used on the Tirpitz part of a turret was found 3 miles away. He did say one thing I remember ' War should never be glorified - it's evil'. He must be turning in his grave.

After I saw the title i honestly thought you were talking about atomic bombs.

Human ingenuity is simply amazing. If there is a will, there is a way.

At about 0:42 you could see the map in which it shows the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway, the map is showing the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 when the causeway started construction in 2013.

"Why you invaded iraq" USA: "because we assumed that saddam have weapon of mass destruction" "Why don't you invade Russia or China" USA: "because we literally know that they have weapon of mass destruction"

One of the couses i took in college was taught by a metallurgist at the Watervliet Arsenal and it was his job to supervise the heat treatment progam for the bomb casing. The biggest asset of the arsonal was the six jaw rotary forge that was key to the rough shaping of the nosecone mounting surfaces. His was one of the most challenging classes I ever took.

the engineer who came up with the idea of using gun barrels as bombs during World War II deserves a huge bonus. It was an ingenious solution to a difficult problem. The gun barrels were heavy but not wide, making them ideal for creating a powerful explosive device. Additionally, they were strong and shock-resistant, able to withstand the force of the blast. The fact that they already had a hole in the middle made it even easier to add the explosive material. Watching the story of "The Bomb That Ended a War" and learning about this engineering feat was truly fascinating. It's amazing to think how one idea like this could have such a huge impact on the course of history.

I worked on the bunker buster as an assembler lots of pressure to get it done proud that it worked.

Some fun facts, this bomb was launched upwards, the pilots would flick the nose of the aircraft up, and the fire control computer would launch it, giving it a little extra kinetic energy. As the explosive was molten when poured in, the F111s took off with bombs that were still warm to the touch.

Great content as always, hope u make longer videos in the future.

I may not be able to do the math but to make an anything buster. Oh that, nicely done piece. 👍

Scary how something that is larger than the bullet it shoots, becomes the projectile itself, massive power difference

Amazing engineering/manufacturing. Even more amazing video! Thanks.

Top Gun maverick be like when the bomb passes trough 1.09873 cm gap in a vent

Being any one of the people hanging out in your bunker as that showed up would seriously ruin my day

Essentially, it is a giant nail with a warhead.

I am proud as a machinist and welder. We can do almost everything. Not just war equipment but for everyday industrial machines.

During WW2 the Germans fielded a cannon displacing 800mm, yeah, 800mm, and it fired seven ton point three tonne armor piercing shell. The used it on the ammo magazine at Sevastopol, in the Crimea. That shell penetrated some forty feet of steel re-enforced concrete. There's old tech for you, the gun weighed 1,20o tonnes.

This is so cool it’s like ‘How It’s Made’

That was a very interesting little tidbit to say the least. Wow!.... just wow!

A family friend (a professional welder) worked in Iraq in the late 80's on these bunkers. I remember him saying that those bunkers were very strong, several meters of concrete and a lot of steel, but this rocket went into that bunker like in a marmalade.

"The super penetrator" Ah, so that's why this showed up in my recommended. Makes sense.

You name-dropped my hometown (Watervliet, NY... go, Cannoneers!)!

Very interesting. Had no idea they used those barrels to help make them.

“This is proof that engineers are the master race and architects are inferior species” - Probably what RCE would say if he saw this video.

No doubt much of the ideas needed to build the bomb already existed in the minds of various engineers, machinists and technicians long before the need was officially recognized. It's really amazing what can happen when a motivated team is given the space and resources to achieve a common goal. Rare, but amazing.

Content like this is extremely rare

3rd time watching this, one of my favourite videos!

Man, waking up to have a new video of yours for our delight while I take lunch before going to work is what makes for my best days nowadays! Keep up your awesomeness :)

My mom grew up in Watervliet, and I have been past this armory dozens of times. Truly awesome to learn some history about it, especially when I wasn't expecting it. A true, "No way" moment for me

When we work together focused on a goal it’s amazing what Americans can do. Together key word here.

From barrel to bomb; how poetic

Great video! Except, the ‘Little Boy’ bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, remains the only bomb to have never been tested before combat use. Scientists were so confident in its design, combined with the lack of enriched U-235 at the time, that the US military decided not to test it beforehand. The worlds second nuclear explosion and the first use of this weapon.

Definitely my favorite video from your channel 👍🏻 Keep up the great work man!

This is the amount of testing I do on my code before I push to production..

"You either die a barrel or live long enough to see yourself become a bullet" -Howitzer probably

Fun fact! The bunker they hit was a war shelter for civilians in the city I lived in (Amiriyah). It got shot and more than 1,500 innocent people died in that tragedy, mostly women and children. I remember my father volunteered to help the firefighters to rescue people, since there weren't enough firefighters. After that he came back home all bloody and shocked, didn't eat anything for a whole month, because of what he saw. Based on USA they said it was a military base, but in reality more than 1,500 civilians died including women and children. And they knew beforehand it was being used as a shelter for civilians but they ignored that and hit it, just to test what the weapon capable of. That was a serious violation of the laws of war. It called Amiriyah shelter just look it up if you're interested...

Putting our time and effort in activities and investments that will yield a profitable return in the future is what we should be aiming for. Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it.

Some of these weapons are so terrifying it's hard to believe they even exist.

Very cool to be on the team that helped develop this monster.

Such an amazing story. As a HS student I recall touring the Watervelite facility around 1993 with my science class. The emphasis was on how they were making composite firing tubes with spun composite materials. This was after the Clinton defense cuts. No mention was made at all about their ability to turn howitzer barrels into bombs. I suppose with that war over, the capacity to perform such a task became superfluous to replacing expert machinists with automated machinery capable of spinning together a tube.

I recall hearing a story where retired battleship cannons barrels would be recycled into bunker busting bombs

Warms my heart 🏴‍☠️

Nice my friend!

20 years ago I remember reading an article showing that smooth bullet head missiles have further penetration than pointy missile heads. The article stated the pressure wave ahead created by the smooth missile done much of the 'digging.

Thank you for including metric units in your video so the majority of the world outside the USA, Myanmar and Lima can understand the measurements of weight and depth.

Man that is pretty awesome. Great story

That's funny I was actually about to look this video up coming from dark tech and it automatically played this 😂

having walked through some of these burned out bunkers personally... dam impressive. must have been wild to be on the receiving side after hearing what happened

Did the bomb continue to be used or developed after it’s initial use or was it just a one off design?

I made these shells a few years ago, they're tough as hell to make

I remember this bomb i did a current event report on it when i was in 4th grade.. and that was like 23 yrs ago. But i remember it being called Bunker Buster

"The bomb that ended a war" History repeating itself huh ?

4:27 That's some next-level hair!

I always wondered how those bunker busters were made and how they withstood such force of impact. The made them out of friggin howitzer barrels. 😂 Makes total sense. Genius.

Wow- when the dude said "its not what you think" I thought it was gonna be like "yeah this cannon shoots rockets"... no- not even close.

I just want to say that this weapon was developed in the mid to late 80's. My dad helped build the casings for these weapons.

"only 4 to 6 feet of reinforced concrete"

We never should have gotten into the war, it took everything away from my uncle and all of his friends that he grew up with.

As a machinist/programmer, its awesome seeing the manufacturing footage. Nice work digging that up!

At some point when you're carrying a bucket full of molten plastic explosives outside to pour it into an upturned howitzer, you've got to ask yourself "How did I get here?"

Wartime ingenuity is legitimately wild to observe.

Wow, this was fascinating! It's crazy how much effort went into trying to solve an issue in such a short time frame!

4 WEEKS. 4 weeks is all it took for our engineers to engineer this weapon. How insane.

Thats some damn good engineering right there

Everybody gangsta until magic spear I starts playing

I love how simple it is. No tricks, just a big hunk of steel dropped from really high up.

Sick that there's so much footage of this process available This is pretty much my worst nightmare as a machinist lmao