This puzzle is about changing geopolitical boundaries. Each of these images shows a first- or second-level administrative division that went through one of the following changes:
For each image, you need to find the FIPS codes before and after the most recent change this area underwent and take the absolute difference between the codes. The corresponding letters of the alphabet spell out the clue phrase.
Using FIPS codes was clued by the initials of the title of the puzzle, and by '10-4' which was the last version of FIPS released before it was discontinued in 2008. The FIPS codes and changes could be found on official government sites, such as this one or on Statoids.com.
The names that appear on most images are solely to help with place identification, because identifying areas merely by their borders, topography, and bodies of water was judged to be too difficult/boring and somewhat tangential to the idea behind the puzzle.
Image 00: Stockholm City, Sweden The city of Stockholm merged with the county of Stockholm in 1968. The city had code SW20, and the new larger region was given SW26. (26 - 20 = 6, F) Image 01: Biombo Region, Guinea-Bissau Bissau Region split into Bissau and Biombo Regions in 1990. The old Bissau had code PU03, and Biombo received PU12. (12 - 3 = 9, I) Image 02: Sokoto State, Nigeria Sokoto had code NI33 until the Zamfara area was split off into its own state in 1996. The new, smaller Sokoto state was given code NI51. (51 - 33 = 18, R) Image 03: San Jose de Ocoa Province, Dominican Republic In 2002, the municipalities of Rancho Arriba, Sabana Larga, and San Jose de Oco split off of the province of Peravia to become their own province of San Jose de Ocoa. Peravia previously had code DR17 and San Jose de Ocoa was given DR36. (36 - 17 = 19, S) Image 04: Panjshir Province, Afghanistan Panjshir split from Parvan Province in 2004. At the time, Parvan had code AF22. Panjshir was given AF42. (42 - 22 = 20, T) Image 05: Tarapaca Region, Chile Tarapaca lost the provinces of Arica and Parinacota when they split off to form their own region in 2007. Tarapaca had previously had code CI13 and its new smaller form was given CI15. (15 - 13 = 2, B) Image 06: Lofa County, Liberia Lofa lost territory when Gbarpolu County split from it in 2001. It had previously had code LI05 and changed to LI20. (20 - 5 = 15, O) Image 07: Tocantins State, Brazil Tocantins split from Goias in 1989. The larger state had code BR10, and Tocantins became BR31. (31 - 10 = 21, U) Image 08: Knezha Municipality, Bulgaria Knezha municipality was transferred from Vratsa region (BU64) to Pleven region (BU50) in 2001. (64 - 50 = 14, N) Image 09: Upper East Region, Ghana In 1988, Upper Region (GH07) split into the Upper East and Upper West regions. Upper East was given code GH10. (10 - 7 = 3, C) Image 10: Chobe District, Botswana The Chobe and Ngamiland districts combined in 2003 to become the North-West district. Chobe and had code BC02 and North-West got BC11. (11 - 2 = 9, I) Image 11: Frederiksborg County, Denmark In 2007, Denmark abolished all counties and reorganized into a smaller number of regions. Fredericksborg County became part of the Capital or Hovedstaden Region. As a county, Frederiksborg had code DA03. The Capital region got DA17. (17 - 3 = 14, N) Image 12: Northwest Territories, Canada The Northwest Territories lost the Nunavut Territory in 1999 and went from code CA06 to CA13. (13 - 6 = 7, G) Image 13: Socotra Island, Yemen Socotra and some nearby islands were moved from the governate of 'Adan (YM02) to Hadramawt (YM04) in 2000. (4 - 2 = 2, B) Image 14: Tallinn County, Estonia Tallinn County (EN16) became part of Harju County (EN01) in 1992. (16 - 1 = 15, O) Image 15: Ulsan Province, South Korea Ulsan became its own province in 1997, when it split off of Kyongsang-namdo. Kyongsang-namdo had code KS08 at the time and Ulsan was given KS21. (21 - 8 = 13, M) Image 16: Region Autonoma del Atlantico Sur, Nicaragua In 1998, the Department of Zelaya split into two parts, one of them Region Autonoma del Atlantico Sur. Zelaya had code NU16 and RAAS was given NU18. (18 - 16 = 2, B)
These letters spell out the clue phrase FIRST BOUNCING BOMB, which was codenamed UPKEEP, which is the answer to the puzzle.