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A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. A bomb is any of a range of devices that typically rely on the Exothermic Chemical reaction of an Explosive material to produce an extremely Fragmentation is the process by which the casing of an Artillery shell, Bomb, Grenade, etc is shattered by the detonating

Contents

Characteristics

General-purpose (GP) bombs use a thick-walled metal casing with explosive filler (typically TNT, Composition B, or Tritonal in NATO or United States service) composing about 50% of the bomb's total weight. Trinitrotoluene ( TNT) is a Chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO23CH3 Composition B is an Explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT as well as in some instances additional desensitizing agents Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% Aluminum powder, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped Bombs The aluminum improves the The North Atlantic Treaty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the (The British term for a bomb of this type is "medium case" or "medium capacity",(abbreviated to MC). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The GP bomb is a common weapon of fighter bomber and attack aircraft because it is useful for a variety of tactical applications and relatively cheap. Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces

General-purpose bombs are often identified by their weight (e. g. , 500 lb, 250 kg). In many cases this is strictly a nominal weight, or caliber, and the actual weight of each individual weapon may vary depending on its retardation, fusing, carriage, and guidance systems. The term caliber or calibre designates the interior Diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod For example, the actual weight of a U. S. M117 bomb, nominally 750 lb (340 kg), is typically around 820 lb (374 kg).

Most modern air-dropped GP bombs are designed to minimize drag for the carrier aircraft. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a Such weapons are called low-drag general-purpose (LDGP) bombs, nicknamed "slicks. "

In low-altitude attacks, there is a danger of the attacking aircraft being caught in the blast of its own weapons. To address this problem, GP bombs are often fitted with retarders, parachutes or pop-out fins that slow the bomb's descent to allow the aircraft time to escape the detonation. A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag.

GP bombs can be fitted with a variety of fuses and fins for different uses. In an Explosive, Pyrotechnic device or military Munition, a fuse (or fuze) is the part of the device that initiates function One notable example is the "daisy cutter" fuse used on Vietnam-era American weapons, an extended probe designed to insure that the bomb would detonate on contact (even with foliage) rather than burying itself in earth or mud, which would reduce its effectiveness. A daisy cutter is a type of fuse designed to detonate a Bomb at or above ground level The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

GP bombs are commonly used as the warheads for more sophisticated precision-guided munitions. Affixing various types of seeker and electrically controlled fins turns a basic 'iron' bomb into a laser-guided bomb (like the U. A laser-guided bomb (LGB is a Precision-guided munition (PGM that uses semi-active Laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a free-fall S. Paveway series), an electro-optical guided bomb, or, more recently, GPS-guided weapon (like the U. Paveway is a trademark of Raytheon Company which identifies its variants of Laser Guided Bombs (LGB Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth S. JDAM). Overview The JDAM is not a weapon rather it is a "bolt-on" upgrade for unguided gravity bombs installed during build up of the munition by Naval Ordnancemen or Air Force The combination is cheaper than a true guided missile (and can be more easily upgraded or replaced in service), but substantially more accurate than an unguided bomb.

History

Types of GP bombs

Modern American GP bombs: the Mark 80 series

During the Korean War and Vietnam War the U. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia S. used older designs like the M117 and M118, which had a higher explosive content (about 65%) than most current weapons. Although some of these weapons remain in the U. S. arsenal, they are little used, and the M117 is primarily carried only by the B-52 Stratofortress.

The primary U. S. GP bombs are the Mark 80 series. This class of weapons uses a shape known as Aero 1A, designed by the famous Ed Heinemann of Douglas Aircraft as the result of studies in 1946. Edward Henry Heinemann, ( 14 March 1908 – 26 November 1991) was a noted Military aircraft designer for Douglas Aircraft The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American Aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach California. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1946: Events January January 1 - a British South American Airways It has a length-to-diameter ratio of about 8:1, and results in minimum drag for the carrier aircraft. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a The Mark 80 series was not used in combat until the Vietnam War, but has since that time replaced most earlier GP weapons. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia It includes four basic weapon types:

Vietnam service showed the Mk 81 "Firecracker" to be insufficiently effective, and it was withdrawn from U. The Mark 81 (Mk 81 250 lb (113 kg general purpose bomb (nicknamed " Firecracker " was the smallest of the Mark 80 series of low- drag The Mark 82 (Mk 82 is an unguided low- drag General-purpose bomb ( Dumb bomb) part of the U The Mark 83 is part of the Mark 80 series of low- drag General-purpose bombs in United States service The Mark 84 is an American General-purpose bomb, the largest of the Mark 80 series of weapons S. service. More recently, however, precision-guided variants of the Mk 81 bomb have begun a return to service, based on U. S. experience in Iraq after 2003, and the desire to reduce collateral damage compared to Mk 82 and larger bombs (e. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. g. , when attacking a single small building in a populated area).

Since the Vietnam War United States Navy and USMC GP bombs are distinguished by a thick ablative fire-retardant coating, which is designed to delay any potential accidental explosion in the event of a shipboard fire. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Ablation is defined as the removal of material from the surface of an object by Vaporization, Chipping, or other erosive processes Land-based air forces typically do not use such coatings, largely because they add some 30 lb (14 kg) to the weight of the complete weapon.

In the Mk 80 series bomb bodies is also used in the following weapons:


Dumb Mk 80 bombs could be smart bombs with attached kits:

Snake Eye
Snake Eye
Retarded versions

Modern British GP bombs

As mentioned, the British describe general-purpose bombs as medium case (MC) bombs. The principal modern British bombs are 540 lb (245 kg) and 1,000 lb (454 kg), with a wide variety of fin, fuze, and retarder options.

Soviet / Russian GP bombs

A 1946 FAB-250 bomb.
A 1946 FAB-250 bomb. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
A 1954 FAB-500 bomb.
A 1954 FAB-500 bomb.

The Russian term for general-purpose bomb is fugasnaya aviatsionnaya bomba, abbreviated FAB and followed by the bomb's nominal weight in kilograms. Most Russian iron bombs have circular ring airfoils rather than the fins used by Western types.

In 1946 the Soviet Union developed a series of freefall bombs in four sizes 250 kg (550 lb), 500 kg (1,100 lb), 1,500 kg (3,300 lb), and 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) and sharing a single nose and a single tail fuze. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The bomb could be dropped from up to 12,000 m (40,000 ft) and up to 1,000 km/h (625 mph). The original, 1946-series bombs had poor ballistic characteristics at supersonic speed, and their construction was fragile. For other uses see Supersonic. The term supersonic is used to define a speed that is over the Speed of sound ( Mach 1 As an interim measure, upgraded versions of the bombs were built with thicker walls and no nose fuze. The thick-walled version of the bombs were built until 1956. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The 1954 series of high-drag bombs was built in six sizes: 250 kg (550 lb), 500 kg (1,100 lb), 1500 kg (3,300 lb), 3,000 kg (6,600 lb), 5,000 kg (11,000 lb), and 9,000 kg (20,000 lb). Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The smaller (less than 3,000 kg) bombs had a single nose and a single tail fuze, while the larger weapons shared a single nose fuze and two base fuzes. The FAB-9000 (9,000 kg / 20,000 lb) weapon was roughly comparable to the wartime Grand Slam bomb. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Grand Slam was a 22000 lb Earth quake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War. Its use in the postwar era was apparently never seriously contemplated, but it was used by Russian aircraft designers as a substitute for early nuclear weapons when determining the size and clearances of bomb bays. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.

In 1962 a new series of streamlined, low-drag bombs was introduced, designed for external carriage by fighter-bomber aircraft rather than in internal bays. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces They come in only two sizes, 250 kg (550 lb) and 500 kg (1,100 lb). Both bombs have a single nose fuze.

Both the 54 and 62 series designs remain in use. The most common of these are the FAB-100, FAB-250, FAB-500, FAB-750, and FAB-1000, roughly corresponding to the U. S. Mark 80 series. These have seen widespread service in Russia, Warsaw Pact nations, and various export countries. The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe.

Larger bombs with less streamlined shapes also remained in the Soviet arsenal, primarily for use by heavy bombers. In Afghanistan in 1988 Soviet Tupolev Tu-22M bombers used massive FAB-1500 (1,500 kg / 3,300 lb) and FAB-3000 (3,000 kg / 6,600 lb) weapons to devastating effect. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

French GP bombs

France's GP bombs, marketed by Matra and built by the Société des Ateliers Mécanique de Port-sur-Sambre (SAMP) are made in a variety of types with nominal weights from 50 kg (110 lb) to 1,000 kg (2,205 lb). This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Mécanique Avion TRAction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile Bicycles Aeronautics The most common are the 250 kg (550 lb) EU2 and T25, 400 kg (882 lb) T200, and 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) BL4.

Other nations

Other countries, including Brazil, Chile, Israel, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden manufacture their own bombs, most of which are either licensed version of the U. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. S. Mark 80 series or close copies.

See also

References

A gravity bomb is an Aircraft -delivered Bomb that does not contain a Guidance system and hence simply follows a ballistic Trajectory
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