File:OFAB-250 bomb in Urm al-Kubra warehouse.jpg


 * Source
 * Rebel ☪ ‏@zulamba on Twitter
 * ''Looks like bombs that struck @UN aid convoy are Russian OFAB-250-270 type
 * HD version: http://images1.persgroep.net/rcs/bEKqCFDqBB2ra9zO6IPvj_QEgTY/diocontent/70861070/_fill/1350/900/?appId=21791a8992982cd8da851550a453bd7f&quality=0.9

Location
Inside the warehouse on the north edge of the SARC compound in Urm al-Kubra, west of Aleppo. There is a hole in the reinforced concrete roof right above the crater. The orange truck is also seen in photographs taken from the outside.


 * Alternate view: via HRW, Reuters Gallery (file)

Discussion
Did the bomb explode? What caused the crater? Would an explosion of the 250 kg bomb cause greater damage to the cardboard boxes. (Or are these boxes made out of the same magic material al-Qaeda uses for their passports? :-)

What will be found in the crater? An unexploded bomb? The tail section and other remains of an exploded bomb?

P.S. - Here is some material on German WWII high-explosive bombs. A 250 kb bomb would produce a crater 7.3-11m in diameter and 3-3.7m in depth. The Soviet OFAB bombs have a similar design and size range. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 13:14, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

Entered a similar comment on main page, 92 kg of high explosive next to largely intact carbon boxes with tiny perforations here and there. Makes no sense apart from placing it there later. They were used a number of times elsewhere, and fin pictures compared and discussed on the web, prior to this. So it was known in advance how it can be gamed. --Resup (talk) 13:37, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

A Russian correspondent shows a crater from OFAB 250 in Palmyra, standing in it (1:09). Towards the end, shows damages to armored vehicles in Debaltsevo caused by artillery, with munition weights of about 1/10 of the aviation bomb. (Fine points in his presentation may need some adjustment/clarification, but gives an overall idea of scales of things) --Resup (talk) 16:36, 22 September 2016 (UTC)


 * But could an unexploded 250 kg bomb with its kinetic energy produce the hole on the roof, the crater on the floor and the small shrapnel holes on the cardboard boxes? -- Petri Krohn (talk) 16:57, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I think it's essentially impossible. That will typically make a hole not much bigger than bomb itself, and it will stay in the hole with steep walls. Certainly this is what will happen in not very hard ground; will be something like this. Nothing will be hitting material some distance away from impact to turn it into fine dust. It will not throw dust smoothly all around with shallow crater walls, but dig in with a steep wall; what we see is blown, not excavated.  If the floor is so hard and strong that it can't dig in much at all, and so won't stay put there, it  will be a not deep and not wide mark (so again not like what we see here),  and it will bounce somewhere in one, possible  several pieces, but not as a small size shrapnel everywhere. This really looks like something considerably smaller, mortar shell sized, did explode there, and this fin is thrown into the crater, and all made into this photo op scene.


 * Also, if you look at those boxes sitting neatly on top, and with shrapnel holes on them out of place,-what are the chances of that to occur like that? They are there to obscure what's under the fin, and that is dust, matching well the rest of the overall landscape, and some plastic bottles--UNDER the fin. Likelihood of such a scenery occurring naturally is near zero, just by itself.  --Resup (talk) 17:43, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

Examples of media warfare use

 * John Kerry urges one final chance for Syria truce, FT, 21 Sept, 2016. After going over Russian MoD claims (drone, militant with mortar following convoy:
 * ''"But Conflict Intelligence Team, a group linked to Russian blogger Ruslan Leviev, which follows Russia’s military involvement in Syria and Ukraine, questioned the relevance of the defence ministry video...(etc) Separately, it said that a photo of the aftermath of the attack showed part of the tail of a type of bomb which is commonly used by the Russian air forces in Syria.
 * Apparently Russian non-system opposition have hard time imagining that their side can possibility do something right, and the opposite side something wrong; as it is the leading light of democracy, human rights, etc, it is assumed to always follow it itself and is taken as a reference standard for all others to follow and admire...--Resup (talk) 16:02, 22 September 2016 (UTC)