war machine 74

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Yolame ? Issue 74Pnblished byOrbis Publishing Ltd

@Aerospace Publishing Ltd 1985Editorial OfficesWar MachineAerospace Publishing Ltd10 Barley Mow PassageLondon W4 4PHManaging Editor: Stan MorseEdhorial: Trisha PalmerChris BishopChris Chantlan DruryIlesign: Rod TeasdaleColourOrigination: lmago Publishing Ltd.Thame, OxonTypesetting: SX Composing LtdFilm work: Precise Litho LtdArtists:Keith WoodcockArt Workshop31 851

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Pictare aclanowledgementsCoE Photognghj Terc Instruments. l,16l: US Air Force/uS Air Force. 1462: AerospatialdAerospl{63; Saab-BoforVuS Defere Intelligence Agency. 1464: US Nadswedish air force. 1465; US At ForNavyruS Air Force. I,166: MoD/Dasulr/tts Au Force. lrt6?: US NavyruS Aa Force,OS Nalry. 1468rlnstrmeDts/R@kwell 146 L TeH Instrments/lerc lrstrments. l4Z0: Texm lnstrment${Js AirI4?lr Tex6 l$truments. l4Z4: M*rsbmift-Bolkow-Blohmtimting,Eritish Aerospace. l4?5:Aerospae/US NavyruS Navy. 14?6: Tex6 Instrments. l4??: US Air ForceruS Air Force. l4?8: UFory'us Navy. l.l8& US AE Force/us Air Force/us AA Force. (iii): CovBritish Aerospace. (iv): HlDd ForVHQ UK Land Forc6Th ilticle Daring the DEqon's Jav/ is rcprinled ftom The Tale ot Two Bidg6 , US Oovemment pr06.

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l{odernAirto-GroundlftbaponruBy far the largest proportion of the strength of modetn airforces is dedicated to what Amertcan plannets have calledthe'Air-Land Battle', providing assistance to allied groandforces and interdicting the enemy. To be effective, air armshave to he able accurately to deliver sophisticated weaponry.Air-to-surface weaponry encompasses a wide variety of types rangingirom the simple, relatively inaccurate mass-produced cheap 'iron'bomb, through unguided alr{o-surface rockets to the hiqhly sophisti-cated, very accurate and extremely expensive precrsion-guided muni-iions such as the air-to-surface missile and the guided bomb, It alsorncludes such weapons as the various types of cluster bombs designedio carry large numbers of small bomblets or mines for use against areaiargets, and the new dispenser weapons to be carried under the fuse-lage of the Panavra Tornado strike aircraft,In assessing the capabrlities of the world's atr forces and thetr inven-tories of these weapons, it rapidly becomes apparent that only relativelylew nations have available the complete spectrum of air-to-surfaceweapons, and that even some of the larger nations, such as CommunistChina, seem to be fairty backward in the types they have have rnservice, Both the USA and the USSR are very well equipped, whrlst theRoyal Air Force is poorly equipped, the more so when one considersthat a weapon such as a cluster bomb is fairly cheap to design and butld,or even to buy 'offthe shelf from another natron, Moreover, an increasing

Tlpical of modern combat aircraft, the Dassault Mirage 2000 is capable ofcarrying awide range of weapons, including bombs, cluster bombs,unguided roc kets and air-to- surface and air- to-armjssjles.number of modern precision-gn:ided weapons wrth stand-off capabiliare needed today just to reduce the anticipated losses of strike aircracommitted agarnst such sophisticated air deiences as the Sovlets curently have available. If the present Minlstry of Defence planning in thfleid for the Royal Air Force remairis unaltered, the service will not bable to meet all its conventional NATO target commitments and woualmost certainly lose srgnificant numbers of its aircraft during overflighto deliver fairly outmoded weapons, The Falkl4nds war was a sevelesson in this respect, as all the BAe Harrier and Sea Harner comblosses were to Argentine arr defences that are mlnimal tn comparisowrth those that must be antrcrpated in attacks on a Warsaw Pact arrfielor even a target just behind the marn battle zone,Israel has vast combat experience derived from her Middle East waand has realized that a wide variety of weaponry is required to meet threquirements of specific occasions, especrally as she considers that thlives and experience of her pilots are of paramount impodance.An American Boeing B-52H is seen dispensrngr retarded bombs at low fievel.Such flying is essential in the face of modern air defences, and the weaponrymust be slowed to enable the aircraft to escape the blast.

4:;;: i: :. 1 .::. .' : .. .. : ...


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fi nerorpatiale 45.30 andAS.30 Laser:ssentrally a scaled up AS,2O, theAerospatiale AS.30 started life in 1958.: ihe Nord 540I, In 1960 the basic-iS 30 was fielded aboard the Dassaultl.lrage III fighter-bomber to meet a: lench air force requirement for an:-r-to-surface mrssile (ASM) that could:e launched wrrhout the carrier com-r:rg wlthin 3 km (1,86 miles) of the:arget, With a rangte of over lO km (6,2niles) and a terminal CEP of less than- ) m (32.8 ft), the onginal versron re-quired the operator to keep the missllealiqmed on the tarQtet with a joystickand tracking flares on the rear of themissile s body; a radio link was used toiransmit correctrve guidance com-mands to the onboard autopilot forcourse corrections, In 1964 an im-proved variant with a TCA semi-automatrc gnldance system and newflip-out fins entered production andsewice only for the French arr force,Thrs 45.30 TCA employs a SAT trackeru:rit for the continuous monitoring of anIR flare on the missile's rear, the pilothaving only to keep the target centredin his attack sight. Over 3,870 AS.30swere built for a number of nations,operators being France, India, Israel(now out of service), Peru, South Afri-ca, Sr,vitzerland UK (now out of ser-vrce) and West Germany. Of theseSouth Africa has used the missileulder operational conditrons to attackand damage the abandoned and drift-ing oil tanker Wafra off her coastline,the launch aircraft in this case beingthe BAe Buccaneer S.Mk 50.To enhance the weapon's capabih-ties into the 1990s, Thomson-CSF andA6rospatrale began work in 1974 on alaser-gmrded version. The target de-signation pod is the Automatic Track-ing Laser Illuminator System (or Atlis),whilst the laser seeker head is calledAriel By l9B0 the first homrng trialswtth pre-production rounds wereunder way, and in late 1983 the first

The A5.30 has been operational fornearly 25 years, and in that time hasseen a continual enhancement ofitscapability. With its M ach J.5 spee4the AS .30 has a range of some11.25 km(7 miles).

,r111-1:,:,r:},[email protected]::

deliveries of production 45.30 Laserrounds were made to the French airforce for use on its SEPECAT lawarflghter-bombers, and several other asyet unidentifled counrries have sinceadopted the type.Specification45.30 seriesType: airto-surface missileDimensions: lenqrth (AS.30) 3.839 or3.BBS m ( 12 ft 7. I in or 12 ft 9 in), or

(AS,30 Laser) 3,65 m (1 1 ft I 1,7 in);span 1.0 m (3 ft 3.4 in); diameter 0.34 m(13,4 in)Launchweight: 520 kg (1,146,4 lb)Propulsion: solid-propellant rocketmotorPerformance: speed Mach I 5; rangeI 1.25 km (7 miles); CEP (AS.30 andAS,30 TCA) less than l0 m (32,8 ft) or(AS.30 Laser) about 2.0 m (6.6 ft)Guidance:AS,30 manual, AS,30 TCAsemi-automatic to line-of-sigtht, and

An A5.30 Laser rs seen mounted oSEPECAT Jaguar during the firsthoming trials for the system.WithIaser guidance the latest A5.30 isaccuratetowithin2 m(6 ft6 in),ascompared to the earlierversion'saccuracy ot I 0 m (32 ft I in)AS,30 Laser laser-homingWarhead: 240-ks (529-lb) HE withimpact or delay-action fusingrffi niroroatialeAsMP

The A6rospatiale ASMP (Air-So1Moyenne Port6e, or medium-rangeair-to-surface missile) is due to be-come France's main air-deliverednuclear weapon, It rs powered by aIiquid-fuel ramjet system and will beused mainly against tactical tarqetssuch as road and railway bndges,transport depots, and command, con-trol and communications facilrties. Itwill also have a semr-strategic roleagainst hardened targets, and for this atotal of 16 Dassault-Bregnret MrrageIVA bombers of the Force de Frappeare being convefied to the Mirage IVPconiguration to carry one round underthe fuselage in place of the currentAN22 60/70-kiloton yield free-fall nuc-lear bomb, The first of two squadronsto operate the Mirage IVP will com-mission in 1987,For the tactical role with the ASMPthe French air force is procurrng BSDassault-Bregmet Mirage 2000N two-seat low-altitude strike fighters, whichfrom l9BB onwards will initially supple-ment and then replace the SEPECATJagmars at present assiened to this mis-sion with single AN52 lS-kiloton yieldfree-fall bombs. The French nary rsalso convertlng approximately 50 of itscarrier based Dassault-Bregnret SuperEtendard fighters as launch plat-forms,r462

Right: The large ASMP (medium-range air-to-surface missile) weighsI 000 kg (2,205 Ib) at launch and cantravel atspeeds ofup toMach4.

Missile gnridance is of the preprog-rammed inertral type with severalflight profiles available. In generalterms these profiles are believed to besimilar to those available to the Amer-ican AGM-69 SRAM, A total of 100operational rounds is to be procuredfor the two services, and these will re-place the majority of the free-fall nuc-lear bombs now held in stock.

SpecificationASMPType: tactical and/or semr-strategicalr-to-surface missileDimensions: length 5.38 m (17 ft 7,8 in);span not known; diameter 096 m (3 ftLB in)Launchweiqht: 1000 kg (2,205 lb)Propr:lsion: liqurd-fu el ramj etPerformance: speed Mach 4; range300 kn ( 186 mrles); CEP not known

Scheduled to replace most free-fanuclear bombs in French service,ASMP missile will be mainlydelivered by the strike version ofDassaultMirage 2000, and byremaining Mirage IV bombers.Super Etendards will also be fittedoperateASMP.Guidance: inertialWarhead: iS0-kiloton yield nuclear


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Saab-Bofors Rb05A Modern Air:to-Ground WeaponrThe Saab-Bofors Rb05A is a simple,manually-controlled radio-commandweapon for carriage on a wide varietyof launch platforms, It is intendedmainly for use against land and seatargets, but it may also in certain cir-cumstances be used in an air-to-airrole against such targets as a hoveringhelicopter, The airftame consists of apointed cylindncal body wrth long-chord cruciform wings and aft-mounted cruciform control surfaces. A[quid-propellant rocket motor is cen-trally located, and the electrical pre-heating of the round rs undertaken bythe carrier platform,Once the mrssile has been launchedftom a height of20-50 m (65-165 ft), theaircraft c[mbs to around 300-4OO m(985-l,3t0ft) and the pilot manuallyetLudes the weapon by llning it up onthe target with the visual ard of rear-mounted trackinq flares, Any controlsignals required are passed to theRb05A via the radio link to the missile'sonboard receiver, Once the mrssile isin the target's vicinity, a proximity fusedetonates the HE blast-fraqmentationwarhead.The Rb05A is used by the Swedishair force's Saab AJ37 Viggen attackand Saab 105 light stdke and traineraucra-ft. Production started in the early1970s and ceased in 1977, A moresophisticated version, the Rb05B withelectro-optical TV homing, was tohave been built, but this was cancelledwhen the Swedes bought the HughesAGM-65A Maverick in its place,SpecificationRbOSAType: air-to-surface missileDimensions: lencrth3.60 m (1 I ft 9,7 in);span0.B0 m (2 ft 7.5 in); diameter0.30m(11,Bin)Launch weight:305 kg (672,4 lb)Propulsion: liquid-propellant rocketPerformance: speed Mach I *; range

Right: Armed with an HE blastIragmentation warhead, the Mach1 + Rb05A missile may be used in aIimited air-to-air role as well as in itsprimary function as a tactical air-to-groundweapon.

I kn (5,6miIes); CEPlessthan iO m(32.8 ft)Guidance: manual radio commandWarhead: HE blast fraQrmentationArming the Saab AJ 37 attack aircraft,the Rb05A k a relatively simplernr'ssile, sleered manually by radiocommand. The pilot of the aircraft

tracks the missilevisually afterrelease, gruidance being made easiby flares in the missile tail. Thew arhe ad has a proximity fuse.il Houi"t tactical air-to-surface missilesIt is notoriously difficult to obtain anyreliable data on Sovret weapons ofanydescription unless they have beencaptured, However, in the area of tac-tical arr{o-ground weapons it is knovrnthat the Soviets have paralleled manyof the Western equrpment types, andin some specific areas such as fuel-airexplosive munitions have gained a reallead in development,The early Soviet tactical ASMs nev-er received NATO reporting names,but from American sources it has beendiscovered that they were physicallybased on air-to-air missiles. The firstreal ASM to be seen by NATO wasgriven the designation AS-7 'Kerry',This entered service rn the late 1970swith both the Soviet air force and navy,and is a single-staqe radar beam-riding solid-propellant missile equiva-lent to the much earlier American Bull-pup series, Thrs was followed by theAS-8, which is a fire-and-forget antitank weapon for the Soviet attack heh-copters such as the Mil Mt-24 'Hind',and perhaps the Sukhoi Su-25 'Frog-foot' battlefield support aircraft. TheAS-9 was the next in the sequence, andthis rs reported to be a comparatlvelylarge turbojet-powered supersonicanti-radiation missile (ARM) with arange of i00 hn (62 miles) and a war-head of 150 ks (331 lb) for use by bom-

bers and stnke aircraft in penetratingair defences, The more recent AS-lland AS-12 are said to be improvedversions of this missile wlth dtflerenthomrnq heads and tncreased perform-ance. The inteweningweapon, the AS-10, is a Mach-1 solid-propellant missilewith electro-optical homing, a range ofI l. I kn (6.9 miles) and a 100-kq (220-lb) warhead, The last missile for whichdetails are available is the AS-14(formerly known to NATO as the Adv-anced Tactical ASM), This is a largerversion of the AS-I0 wrth mid-coursegrr"udance and the electro-optical hom-ing system used for the terminal phaseof its maximum 40-kn (2S-mile) flighttrajectory. Recent photognaphic evi-

dence has shown it under the wings ofa Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27'Flogger-J' fighter-bomber,The Soviets also have laser-gruudedversions of their standard FAB-500,FAB-750 and FAB-1000 GP low-dragiron bombs, together with versions ofthe 210-mm (8.27-in) S-21 and 325-mm(12,8-in) S-32 air-to-surface ungrLudedrockets that have been fitted with ]i-mited visual-guidance systems, Thesesupplement the vast array of conven-tional weapon types deployed by theSoviets.SpecificationAS-7'Kerry'Type: au{o-surface missile

The AS- I 4 is one of the mostadvanced tacticalmlssijes in servicwith the Soviets for which anyinformation is available in thewest.Carried by the MiG-27'Flogger-J', iis thought to have an electro-opticalWidance system with mid-coursecorrection.Dimensions:notknownLaunchweight: 1200 kg (2,646 lb)Propulsion: solid-propellant rocketmotorPerformance: speed Mach 1; rangteI L i krn (6,9 miles); CEP not knou"rytGuidance: radar beam-ridingWarhead: 100-ks (220. Slb) HE blastfragmentation


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doui"t strategic air-to-surface missiles-r-: p:=eli ihe strateg[c elements of:: :-: a:rnies of the Soviet Union use::i:si3 valants of the AS-3 'Kangar-co'. A,94 'Kitchen' and A.5-6'Kingfish'-li:],'. Ine Souets also use versions:: :-= last two mrssiles wrth passive:r::r-:roming systems to destroy:=:-s assessed as being of prtme Lm-:,:::11ce in the defence of targets like--r' :: be attacked by Sovret strategic

a: the thee hsted systems only the-li-3 '+;as developed solely for the=a:egac mission, the others also being:-,-.''able rn antt-shipping variants for'-r= i:;'fie Sofiet naval air force. TheIl-:garoo' was based on an alrcraft:-:laEe wrth lurbojet propulsion. The;::-ia::ce rs handled by an autoPilot'r.--: rir:d-course command-correction::-:es: no ierminal homtng system ts=::ed. and thrs lack of terminal accura--r Cctates the use of an BOo-kilotoni--:ld ihermonuclear warhead, The:=ge is 650 hr (404 mrles) usrng a:.Ji-alttude supersonic flight profile:eicre a terminal dive at the target.::ation, Carried only by the T'upolevl::-95 Bear-B and'Bear-C' four-engtnei:rg-rangre bombers, the AS-3 is srra-d;ally being replaced by the AS-4l:arried by the 'Bear-G' conversion)=d by the AS-X-IS, This latter is car-::ed by the new-production 'Bear-H',-,';ilch can launch a number of the low-ahtude AS-X-15 cruse missiles, whicheach have a range of 3000 lcn (1,865mles) and a 20O-kiloton yield war-head.Both the Mach-3,S AS-4 and theMach-3,O A5-6 are single-stage solid-propellant missiles. The AS-4 is in-ertialiy qnrided to its target, whereasrae A5-6 has an autopilot guidance sys-lem. In the normal high-altitude flightprofile the AS-4 has a range of 460 km(286 miles) and the A'5-6 of 560 km (348miles) with very steep terminal dives.In both case the missiles can be usedon a low-altitude profile, which re-duces their ranges to 300km (186miles) and 250 kn (155 miles) respec-tivel,v. The nuclear warhead carrtedby both rs of 35O-kiloton yield, althougththis may be exchanged for a 1000-kg(2,205-1b) HE warhead if required,The strategic forces also use the AS-5 'Kelt'on occasion with their mediumbomber units, Thought to be used inthls context wrth a passive radar-hominq seeker for defence-suppression tasks, the 'Kelt' carriesonly a conventional 1000-kg (2,205-lb)HE warhead, It is a Mach-l,2 liquid-propellant rocket-powered wingedmissile with high- and low-altitudeflight profile ranges of 230kn (143miles) and 180 lcn (112 miles) respec-tively, According to Israeli sources,the terminal dive angie is very shallowand the weapon can easily be en-gaged by air-defence systems,Further strategic air-launchedstrategic missiles of higher perform-ance are known to be in development,Ofthe current weapons the USSR usesall, while the conventionally-armedAS-4 is used by Iraq, and the AS-5 bYEgypt and Iraq,SpecificationAS-3'Kangaroo'Type: af -to-su-rface strategic missileDimensions: lenqth i4,90 m (48 ft10,6 in); span 9, i4 m (30 ft 0 in);diameter LBS m (6 ft0,8 in)Launchweight: 11000 kg (24,250 lb)Propulsion: one turboletr464

Right: The AS-5'Kelt' bears a tamilYresemblance to the AS- I 'Kennel' ,with the major change being from iet &torocketpower.lnplaceofthejet qIlntake fft eAS-S fi as tfi e nose (andprobably guidance sys tem ) of the'Styx'shipborneSSM.

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Performance: speed Mach LB; range650 hn (404 miles); CEP not knownGuidance: autopilot with mid-coursecorrectionWarhead: 2300-kq (5, 07 1 -1b) nuclearwrth a yield of 800 hlotons

Above: Carried in pairs by theTupolev Tu- I 6'B adger', the AS -5 hasbeen supplied tovarious Sovietclients operating the aircraft. The8.59 m (28 ft 2 in) missile has a 1000-kg (2,205-1b) high explosivewarhead.

Below: Most potent aircraft in theSoviet inventory, the Tupolev Tu'Backfire' is mainly armed with tsupersonic AS-4 'Kitchen' both fothe strategic and the anti-shippinroles.


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lYlodern Free- Fall BombsThe startling development of precision guided missiles since the end of WorldWar I I migit have led many to suppose that the day of the old fashioned' iron bomb'was done.Thatthe truthisverydiiferentis areflectionof themultitudeof differenttypes of targetconfronting an attacking aircraftin modernwarfate.As most nations not in the Soviet bloc tend touse American-designed and American-built'iron' bombs their development wili be re-viewed first.In the immediate post-war period a proposaiwas received by the then Bureau of Aeronau-tics to revise the US Navy's existing bomb in-ventory to give a serles of streamlined iow-drag b6mbs that would be suitable for carriageby future generations of supersonic aircraft en-vrsaged at the time, As the subsequent BuAerdesign concept was too long, the proposingcompany (Douglas) chose an Aero 1A shapewith a length:diameter ratio of 8.3: 1 and ap-plied it to glve the familiar Mk 80 series ofgeneral-purpose (GP) bombs, namely the1 13 4-kg (250-lb) Mk 8 I, the 227 -kq (500-1b) Mk82, the 454-ks (1,000-lb) Mk 83 and the 907-kqr(2,000-lb) Mk 84.Meanwhile the US Air Force took its existing340 Z-kq (750-1b) bomb and modified it with anew streamlined taii to give the Ml17 Demoli-tion Bomb. Dwing the same period the AirForce produced the similar 1360 8-kg (3 000-]b) M118. These two bombs had thinner cas-rngs than the US Navy models and thus pro-duced their effects by blast rather than frag-mentation,In the late 1950s and as part ofthe develop-

ment of weapons for use in the periodic'brushfire' wars in the world, the US NavalWeapons Center at China Lake began de-velopment of a series of ungnrided conventionalweapons that had'eye' series codenames. Oneof these was the Snakeye fin retarder for Mk 81and Mk 82 bombs; this permitted the bombs tobe carried by alrcraft at high speed and thendropped at very low altitudes without des-troyinq the plane in the subsequent blast. Itachieves this effect by depioying several air-brake swfaces to slow the bomb's downwardmotion to a significant degree, However, evenafter years of use with the US forces, theSnakeye system is consldered to be unreliable,For the longer term an Advanced General-Purpose bomb is under study for use by the USNavy ln three sizes: 226 kq (500 1b), 454 kg(1,000lb) and 907kq (2000lb) The smallestbomb size has been discarded as it is consi-dered too light for a modern battiefield and itstargets, The US Alr Force may well use thesebombs (as it did eventually the Mk 80 series)but instead seems to be veering towards thecontinued use of its old iron bombs (at leastuntil current stocks are exhausted) but upgrad-ing them lnto precision-guided munitlons andsupplementing them with new-build glide-bomb systems,

Although the Cluster Bomb Unrt (CBU) =-':tion was in sewice as early as World War,- -US Navy generally neglected its develcp=e:during the first post-war decade. In sha5 :::trast the US Air Force moved into th:s:e-i -:big way as it concluded that such -,,teap,were particularly useful in enablirrg r:i.-,--i:aircraft to make multiple kills oi sca:.ertargets on a single pass through urteise I:'-:fire. Thus the US Naw desrgmed orL:.i a:e-r'these weapons, of which the Mk 20 Rc:


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Modern Free-Fall Bombsbomb stocks. The adr,'en: of iast ;es requ[ednew weapons, however, resr-:Jtrng rn the cur-rent 244 9-ks (540-lc) and 454-ks (1 000-1b)medlum-capaciiy bombs which eventuallygarned tail retarding devices desigrned for thesame function as the Snakeye, All theseweapons are in widespread Brrtrsh use andhave been exported, as is testified by theArgentine use of the 454-kq (l 0001b) modelagainst the Royal Navy during the 1982 Falk-lands war. However, unlike the Amerlcans andtheir prodigious development of CBUs, Britishinterest since the late 1960s has centred on onlyone weapon in thrs category, the BL-755 orCluster Bomb Mk l, which entered servlcewith the Royal Alr Force inthe early I970s as ananti-armour weapon, Used in the Falklands waras an area weapon against airfield facilities,troop concentrations and supply dumps, itproved relatively successfui a]though a greatercholce of submunition types would have beenwelcome, An improved version, wrth capabil-rty against the latest Soviet armour, ls nowbeing procured. In drrect comparison withwhat is avarlable to American forces and the airforces of some other nations, such as Franceand Israel, the Royal Air Force's current capa-briities in rhe free-fall bomb field are at besrquestionable,France, with its manufacturers Thomson-Brandt and Matra and their range ol weaponsfrom CBUs to cratering bombs, seems to have abetter grasp than MoD planners of the munitiontypes required for use in the modern bat-tlefield, In fact it was Israel, with France's help,that developed and subsequently used the'concrete-dibber' type of rocket-poweredbombs: in the 1967 Srx-Day War agalnst theEgyptians the Israelis closed a number of theenemy's airfields by causing severe craterdamage beneath the runway surlace as a resultof the bombs'tunnelling effects, The next use ofsuch a weapon was during the l97l Indo-

Pakistan War, when bombs of a srmrlar typewrth the Sovtet designations BETAB-250 andBETAB-500 were dropped by Indian Air ForceMikoyan-Gwevich MiG-2ls and Sukhoi Su-7s.Dwing the numerous conflicts that the Sovietclient states have fought, and in the currentSoviet operatrons in A-fghanistan, a compre-hensive array of free-fall bombs and clustermunitions has been used. The Soviets' latestnarrow-body free-fall low-drag GP bombs aredeslgnated FAB-100 FAB-250 FAB-500, FAB-750 and FAB-1000 (the number indicating theweapon's notional weight in kilograms), andthe Eg'yptians have revealed that the Sovietsuse tail-mounted retarding devices for theFAB-250 and FAB-500 models that are similarin deslgn to the American Snakeye. Frag-mentation versions of these two bombs alsoexist wlth the designations OFAB-250 andOFAB-500 There rs also a series of incendiarybombs (but not napalm tanks) that correspondsin size to the FABs but allocated the prefix ZAB,Cluster munition designations are more dlf-ficult to discover, although it is known that ZAP-200, PTK-250, RPK-180, RPK-250 and RRAK allrefer to such weapons. The cluster weapon hasbeen extensively used in Afghanistan, espe-cially with a parachute retarding device inorder to achieve safe low-altitude delivery anddispensing, It is also known that various fuel-airexplosive boosted napalm bombs are avaii-able, together wlth SOV-AB persistent toxicchemlcal agent and NOV-AB non-persistenttoxic chemical agent bombs. The precise de-signations (and hence weights) of theseweapons are not known,Below: An A-7 Corsair of theUS AirNationalGuarddisplays its load oI six 250-kg (550Jb) Snakeye Mk82 bombs. These are streamlined to preventdragwhile being carried, but are fitted with high-dragretarding devices on the tail,which deploywhendropped.

One of the most important types of bomb in thcurrent inventory is the cluster bomb. Consisof numerous sub-munitions in a single casingBL 755 was used extensively by Britain in theF alklands against so{t and widely dispersedtargets.

Above: The five Belouga BLG 66 dr'spenserscarried by the Mirage 200A each contain 151grrenadeS with either fragmentation, armour-piercing or high-explosive (concussion) effecdepending upon the target to be attacked.

I 4bf'


9/24

Ivtrodern Air-to-Ground Weap onryI

-ffiy,rir:+rr*.' l'l?en d tted to aircra{t sucil a's d?e,l-i rit:n:narL A-Ehrfruief, i.'Iiodern 2Z 5-lzg ( 5A0' ibi av.i 5 () - t:t:t { l,0AA -}ls} e-1ts (GeneraJ.PurI:ose) bornbs arelfie:: mounled on lrlple ejeciorrec'ks, someflrn*s.r.;i.'ii iwrs::aeks tr: an underating &arJpoind.

A : cv e : A iec&niryue rn ucir pra {:tEed ir V e tn am;+,as fie use efJead slips equ;p peC w'ith blind orprecision bambing: equtpmenl f o Jead' iorrna#oriscfiess weJf-egu ipped aircrait. The practicer:onllnues. with" typicaily, an F-J -l J griviin.g reJeasernsiruelion"s f a: f '-4s.

Eelaw:A US Naev A-7 Corsair being bambei :.::irTustrafes,tlotJr the triple ordnance ejectar rac..::and the high d.rag taitr attachments fitted tastendard Jorar draEbombs" A n we apon r e lsas e :iarge fins deploy outwards, acting as airbtak-':and slawing the bemll

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10/24

USAE US quided bombsl:-e of the major technologies de-;=.:ped for the Vietnam War was laser3-::dance for iron bombs. Although thisr= rnrtrally a US Air Force project,-.exas Instuments helped in the de-;eLcpment and ultlmately produced-:e kits for the Paveway laser-quidedr'.:=b family, This programme has;:ked more than 30 different systemss:cl as airborne naviqation, target::arkrng and identification, and all-r=a'*rer and nlght-vision guidance:r:: a single weapon type. The firstlaser-guided bomb was dropped in:-als during 1965, and by 1971 thePaveway I family had gnown to elght::-e:ent guidance hts for addition to-:e rcse and and tail of standard free-=-r Teapons. The grurdance and con-:::.':nis were identical for all the kits::: te szes of the canard steerings-::a:es and tail assemblies varied:rxrding to the size of the bomb to ber:eC The nose-mounted laser seeker; EJiiEted on a two-axrs grimbal which:=s a ring iocated at its rear. Afterr;=ipon release, air flowtng over the:::g causes the seeker to weathercock:-:: Lhe local airstream and hence:irt approximately towards the:-gefs location. The target itself is illu-::]ated by an alrborne or Errould-La-


11/24

Guided Bombs in Aetr&wmThe tr e mendou s technologicaladvances of the I 950s and I 960s in thefields of electronics, computerizationand lasers had an enormous e{fectuponw arf are, with w eapon guidancee sp ecially tr an sformed.The introductlon of the Laser-Guided Bomb(LGB) into the US Au Force weapon inventoryduring 1968 for use in the Vietnam War broughta new dimension to warfare. It was the first timethat the service had available a precision-en:ided munition (of sufficient weight and with-night and poor weather capability) capable ofdestroying in single hits enemy targets thatprevioirsly needed large numbers of alrcrafiwrth sigrnificant payioads of standard ironbombs. During the 'Commando Hunt VIl'op-erations in the Steel Tiger area of Laos in late1971 and early 1972, the LGBs proved of im-mense use in the second phase of the aerialinterdiction programme, in which they wereused at key points to cut roads along whichNorth Vletnamese supply convoys ol tmcksused to travel. Once the roads were cut, thesurrounding area was seeded with ground sen-sors and air-dropped land mines to form a'biocking belt': when any of the sensors pickedup sounds of the mines being cleared or thebelt itself being bypassed, more strike aircraftwere vectored in with LGBs or other munitionsto attack the enemy force,In March 1972, when the North Vietnameseregulars operaiing in support ofthe Pathet Laomoved against General Van Pao's Meo gmerril-]a headquarters at T,ong Thien southof the Plainof Jars, they used a number of the long rangeM-46 130-mm (5. 12-in) artiilery pieces to bom-bard the site. The US Air Force, flying alr sup-port for the Meos, found that the gn:ns weredifficult to spot and even more drfficult to des-troy with conventional munitrons. Finally sever-al LGBs were used io score direct hits.The grreatest test of the LGBs, especially theMk 84 907-kq (2,000-1b) variant, came shortlyafterwards during the North Vietnamese's Eas-ter 1972 invasion of South Vietnam. This promp-ted the US government to order its air units toresume the bombing of North Vietnam, Oneparticular target in that country whlch hadbeen high on the target list since April 1966(and which had been attacked on a number ofoccasions by both US Air Force and US Navyaircraft during the various bombing campaignswith hundreds ol iron bombs, as well as Bull-pup and Walleye guided weapons) was theheavily defended Thanh Hoa rarl bridge. Thtstarget had cost the Americans a number ofaircraft shot down together with aircrew kiiled,wounded or caphrred for a relatively poor re-turn in damage inflicted on the structure.However, a single strike by the LcB-equippedMcDonneil Dougias F-4 Phantoms of the 8thTacticai Figthter Wingflying from Ubon in Thal-Iand destroyed the bridge, whose spans weredropped during the 6 April-30 lune blltz onbridges that saw another 105 bridges alsoattacked.Close support

Although extremely usefu1 in such attacks onNorth Vietnam, the LGB also proved itself in.South Vietnam in the tank-busting and close-support roles, where friendly oop,s- 9dattackers within their positions. The 907-kg(2,000-lb) and 136l-ks (3 000-1b) weaponsequipped with iaser seekers and carried on

such aircraft as the Phantom (supported by aforward air controller in a Roclcwell OV-10Bronco observatton plane wlth a 'Pave Nail'laser designator) proved devastating to NcrthVietnamese tanks in the area north of Hue,where the open terrain afforded little conceai-ment, On one occasion, for example, a FACoperating at twiiight just north ol the South Viet-namese marine positions on the My Chanh riv-er ]ine found two armoured vehtcles nearRoute I: a PT-76 light amphibious tank wastryrng lo extricate a T-53 main battle iank irom adried-up stream bed, Alr support was sun-moned and two Phantoms from Ubon arrived,one with a laser designator system and theother with LGBs, In the space of three miautesthe tanks had been illuminated ln turn by thedesignator-carrying aircraft and dispatchedrmth single bombs from ihe other aircrafi,. On 25 April at Fire Base'Charlie', which hadon the previous day been overrun by the NorthVietnamese on the way to Kontum, FACs con-trolled a fliQtht of the Ubon Phantoms to attackenemy troops and vehicies which were tryinEto take away undamaged South Vietnamesei05-mm (4 l3-in) Ml0I howitzers, Only threeMk 84 LGBs were required to take out three olthe gnrns and five of the trucks ihat were to beused to move them. Perhaps one of the mosttelllng uses of ihe LGB occurred in May, after'Pave Nail'-equipped Broncos arrived in theHighlands to hetp defend Kontum and itscovering fire bases and camps. A SpecialForces camp came under lntensive North Viet-namese tank and rnfantry attack, and re-quested help from an FAC aircralt orbitlngoverhead; this FAC calledup a'Pave Nail'OV-l0 and both arranqed to get LGB-egutppeciF-4D Phantoms lrom Ubon. The ground contactin the meantime came on to ihe air and re-ported that a tank was trying to crush thecamp's main command bunker and, overhear-ing the FAC's conversatton, innocently askedwhat a 'Pave Nail' was. Both FACs told theSpecial Forces trooper to stand by and theywor;id show him, The OV-10 then illuminatedthe tank in question wlth hls laser designatorand one of the F-4s, which had lust arrived'

The ability of lasers to pinpoint targets could nolbe better demonstrated than in the steering of ag1}-kg (2,0A0-b) bomb through the driver'swindaw af amoving truck.WithPaveway about,nobady can afford to relax.

The laser targetting can be carried out either {roar'rhoi'nepods, sometimes carried by the attackaivcraft, ar by ground troops acting as forwardatssewers with portable laser equipment.rolied in and releaseci a Mk 84 LGB. The 907(2 000-1b) weapon impacted right bestdetank, the force of the explosion picking the iaup aird blowrng rt back into the camp's pemeler wire. There was then a long silence frthe :rooper until hrs votce came on again

-sard 'What did you call that?' 'Pave Nail,' cathe reply, to be answered by'l need about tmore,'Laser-guided bombs proved themselvesmost accurate of the atr-delivered anti-armc./r/eapons, but most of the North Vietnametanks destroyed by aircraft were actually hiistandard 227'kg (500'1b) Mk 82 GP bombs dvered mainly by South Vietnamese propelldriven Douglas A-l Skyraiders and jpowered Cessna A-37 liqht attack aircrafi.although these weapon/aircraft combinatlscored the most tank kills, they were noaccurate as LGBs and proved highly vulnable to ground fire compared wlth the hflying I GB-equipped F-4 Phantoms onsame mlsslon.

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12/24

GuidedBombs inActionThe next recorded combat use ofthe LGB bya Western nation occurred during the Falk-lands war of 1982 when the Royal Arr Force'sBAe Harrier GR Mk 3s of No, 1 Sguadron were:aken south ior use in the ground-attack role.Standard 454-kq (i 000-1b) medium-capacityHE bcrnbs were converted to the I,GB con-ngn:ration by kits parachuted to the task lorcelrom long-ranEe Lockheed C-130 Herculesiransports on 27 May. The bombs were re-ieased singly in a climb from a pre-computedputl-up point to aliow the aircraft to remainclear cf any air-defence systems. Only after thebomb had passed the highest point oiits trajec-tcry and begnrn its downward path was thetarget illumlnated by a ground-based Ferrantiiaser designator, From the Tbio Sisters positionon 13 lune, desigJnators were used during lndi-vidual attacks by two aircraft in the course ofthe day. In each case the first bomb releasedapparently missed as a result of the targetbeinq ill'dminated too soon, but in each case thefollow-up attack with the second weaponscored direct hits, Squadron-Leader Pooks'attack destroying a 105-mm (4 13-in) M56 packhov,ritzer posrtion.More recently the Soviets have begun to useihe LGB in Afghanlstan as part of an eflort toieduce fixed-wrng alrcraft losses and lo assisttheir ground troops when they are in close-range fire fights with the gnrerrrllas, There isreason io believe that on severai recent occa-sions conventional bombing attacks hat'ecaused more losses to the Sovret and govern-ment troops than the mujahadeen guerrillas,As more countries obtain the LGB, their com-bat use will become more widespread, andaithough not yet mentloned ln the context of thecontinuing Iran-iraq Gulf War, it cannot be longbefore LGBs are used, ifindeed they have notalready been employed.

: ' :'

The ardnance to he guided are usually standardweapons, to which have been fitted a seeker head,wlrrclr senses fft e laser reflection fram a target, acantrol module, and moveable fins which contrtheflight.

The combination of the sophisticated all-weathcapability of the General Dynamics F - j I I withprecisian of laser-guided weapons proved deain the latter staEes of the war in.Vietnam.

oneumatically driven controlpower units

ccntrol module {orCata linkmodule in commanduidedmodels)movable control seryices

ciuciform control fins

battenesmain fuse

umbilical connectlon to aircraf'thrgh erplosiveautopilot

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13/24

fuioderm &ir-to-Gr*u,nd &V*aFe n

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Laser guidance was extremeiy usefuJ not a:.'.' ::eliminatingdifficult tatgets inNarth l'tetr :* -. -providing the closesf of c,lo.se support in l.iie s: -AsJongas a designatar cauld be held on a i.::.:then an air strike could be called ln; t.he acc:,-.-. --o such a strike:s sftowrn J:ere againsi a .'as:..: : :truck. Such pinpoml targeftin g allowei a:': ...'.be madewithout fear of hitting frieneiJy fcrces

Left:'fhe HABCS, or horning bamb systei:r. :r'=;developed. in paraliel with the Pave.aaypr agr arnfi e. U su a liy ftt te d tc s t a n d a r d ,ri r,: I900 kq t lQQ6-16; or Mk I I B J360-kg rt.',6' -''bombs and usir ally carried by McDonnell Dc:;.F-,t Phantams in5oufjr fasf "4sia . the ai.rina- ::(Electro-Optica.t) guided weapan reg::'re : '..- -W'SA (Weapon^Sysferns eff ce.',r rc ioc : rne :: :::precisely anta target by centring it jn thecrossftar'rs on the rnonitar screen r:r i,he coci:: :S ecur e Iy loc ked on, the weapon ll/as r eie r.c,: I j.:the aircraft then turr2ed away tosekcri a,re ;i'tar-get.

r:rtro wire conduil.1r 84 900-kg ( 1 ,9B4lb) bomb

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contrcl yr'i["sboresight and clectro'opticabias se ecior p ugs i4)

gurdance sectiof module

qu cl -c,: 5ys.ef, vr f;dowi cal see ief

rnrage-co.tfis1 ttacketgyro sraot zecplaticrm


14/24

Dqring the Drcgon's lcrwOne of the hardest nuts to crack during the whole of theconflict in S ou th E as t Asia, the Th anh H o a bridge w as wellnamed the 'Dragon's aw' . I ts fall was essen tral, although manyprevious attempts had only succeeded in costing valuablelives and aircraft. By 1972, however, thefamilies of 'smart'weapons in senice promised more success.When the North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam on 30 March 1972' itbecame painfully obvious that Hanoi had no desire to accept any- -settle.mentother thah one dictated by a smashing military victory. On 6 April 1972, Amer-.ican aircraft once again were sent north of the DMZ to carry out a co-ordrnatedinterdiction campa-rln against the North Vietnamese logistic.network. Two ofthe taroets werd th6 ThEnh Hoa and Paul Doumer bridges. Since the bombinghalt in T968 they had been repaired, and the rail lines crossing the bridges werebeing fully utilized.It ilras blear to the targeteers, mission planners, and strike pilots that des-trovinq the Thanh Hoa and Doumer bridges would not be a simple task. They hadtakbn"their toll of US aircraft and pilots during the early years of the war, andthere was no reason to suspect that the defences around them had beensoitened. There was, howevei, a glimmer of hope echoing along the halls and inthe briefing rooms of the fighter squadrons because some new weapons werenow available for such a mrssion.A new family of 'smart bombs' had been introduced in South East Asia sincethe bombinq f''att in t gOB. These weapons consisted of Electro-Optical guidedBombs (EOGBs) and Laser Guided bombs (LGBs) in the 907-kg (2,0001b) and1 361 -kg (3,000-lb) class. The EOGB was a contrastweapon, :imilar in concept tothe Walleye first used in 1967 by the US Navy. The EOGB, however, was.a907-kg bohb with a smallTV camera attached to the nose which transmitted apictur6 of what it was viewing to a scope in the attack aircraft. The pilotwouldboint the aircraft and weapon-at the taiget area, thereby allowing the WeaponSystems Operator (WSO) in the rear cockpit of the McDonnell.Douglas F-4Phantom to find the target on the scope, rdfine the contrast aiming point anddesiqnate the tarqet to the weapon. Once this was accomplished, the-pilotwouid release the-bomb and quickly depart the target area, leaving the EOGB toguide itself toward the designated aini point. Target weather and cloud coveriras a factor when deliverinq EOGBs, but if the weapon could see the targetwhen it was released from [he aircraft it would usually impact the aim point.The LGB was somewhat diff erent. A laser sensor was mated to the nose ot a907-kg or 1 361-kg bomb which enabled it to guide itself toward a target illumin-ated #ith low poiver laser energy. The prob-lem of illuminating the target withthis laser enerjy was solved by attaching a pod beneath the fighter ai.rcraft.Thispod contained''an optical viewing system and laser emitting capability, bothbperated bv the WSb in the back seil ot the fighter. With this system, the pilotcbuld poini his aircraft toward the target while his WSO optically locted theprecisb target aim point and illuminated it with his laser equipment. The pilotwould then" release his bombs and depart the target area, leaving the LGB. toguide itself to the target, which was kept under las.er illumination by a swivelling6od or by another aiicraft with a lasertarget designator. An advantag,e of thisbystem was that more than one aircraft at-a time cbuld drop LGBs on the sametirqet, with all weapons using the same illumination point to guide on. Both.theEO-GB and the LGB resulted in less aircrew exposure and greater accuracy thanconventional weapons. A disadvantage was that the t-qrget had. to be con-tinuously illuminaied by the laser Jor-the LGB to be effective. lf clouds ob-structed'the view of th6 illumlnating pod the LGB would become an unguidedbomb and probably miss the target.ihe new'f OCBsand LGBs weie given to the Bth Tactical FighterWing (TFW)operatinq F-4 Phantoms f rom Ubonhoyal Thai Air Base, Thailand. The Bth TFWwas kno"wn as the 'Wolf pack MiG Killeis'- a name acquired for their effectrve:ness in destroying more MiG aircraft during Rolling Thunder than any other UStactical fiohter'wiio ooeratinq in North Vietnam. The wing, commanded at thistime by C"olonel ino-"w brigadi6r General) Carl S. Miller, was soon to earn the titleof 'Bririge Busters' as a ionsequence of the wing's use of the new weaponsaqainst"the North Vietnamese supply system Between 6 April 1972 and 30Jitne 1972. th Bth TFW F-4 airciaft were to destroy a lotal of 106 bridges,including the Paul Doumer and the Thanh Hoa, with the new guided lqtQtln add"ition to the guided bombs, US air power had increased its capabilities byimproving its elecironic countermeasures (ECM) through the use of 'chaff'dropped from F-4 aircraft.Operation'Freedom Dawn'With the authorization to re-tnitiate the bombing of North Vietnam, several airoperations plans were drawn up to satisfy -the interdictiorr requirementsdirected by ihe upper echelon planners. One of these plans, 'Freedom Dawn',included, among bther targets, ihe Thanh Hoa bridge. The plan called {or a smalltactical strike fo-rce to destroy the Dragon's Jaw with the new iamily of guidedbombs.The operation was to be carrled out by 12 F-4 Phantoms from the 8th TFW,eight of them loaded with 907-kg guided weapons. A flight of four PhantomsTheThanhHoabridge, 112 Im(70 miles) southofHanoi,was a maior targetforUS air attack,Iocatedasitwas on the main road and rail route from theNorthinto Laos and to SouthVietnam. Its destructionwouldseriously hamper the movement of men, equi.and suppfies to the battlefields of the South.

was to lay a chaff corridor from the initial point to the target so that the ebombladen F4s could operate in a relatively sterilized radar environment.weather in the target area had been the cause of several last-minute postpoments of the mission, but on 27 April 1972 reports indicated the weathercleared sufficiently over Thanh Hoa to permit the strike.On that day, the 1 2 Phantoms took off from Ubon, and the three flights ofaircraft each headed for an air refuelling area'where SAC KC-135 tankers worbiting, waiting to off load extra f uelto the fighters. This f uel might be necessshould enemy fighters appear or should the RESCAP of a downed aircbecome a reality. Having some extra JP4 fuel might mean the differebetween making one last turn to destroy an enemy MiG or being able to ordowned crewm6n and provide suppressive fire against ground forces until Saircraft arrived.With several thousand kilograms of fuel obtained from the tankers, f ighters headed for the bridge. The chaff delivery aircraft had, gone out in f ronform the protective corridol in advance of the strike aircraft. However, asstrike airciaft approached the lP, a glance in the direction ofthe targel reveaheavy cloud cov6r which could hamper the use of the guided bombs. The heclouci iover and poor visibility preciuded the use of LGB illuminators to denate the target continuously, making it a day for the EOGB weapons. The airccarrying the EOGBs then positioned themselves for the strike, and let loose tweapons. The extremely heaw anti-aircraft f ire filled the skies with hundredwhite, grey and black puffs of smoke from exp]gding MA shells. A numbeSA-2 SAMs were fired at the aircraft, but SAM effectiveness was reduced bychaff - so much so that the Phantoms escaped without a scratch. Post-missphoto reconnaissance showed the damage to the bridge to be extenenough to render it unusable to vehicle traffic. The EOGBs had severely shathe structure, but stubborn to the end, the Dragon's Jaw would need one mpunch.'Linebackerl'On 1 0 May, Operation 'Linebacker l', the start of the increased interdiction ein the norih was inltiated. Heavy air strikes were flown against targets inHanoi-Haiphong area and reduced to rubble many key obiectives prevrouslylimits'.After three days of 'Linebacker' activity, the Thanh Hoa bridge was once ahighlighted on the daily mission orders, which was to be similar to that flownZI Aprtt except that the weather was forecast to be better and two additioaircrdft were icheduled, making a total of 14 strike aircraft. Guided bombs won the agenda again; however, this time, nine 1361-kg LGBs would be useconjunction with-15 907-kg LGBs and48227-kg (5001b) conventional bomOn the morning of 13 May, the attacking {orce members annotated tmaps with updated SAM plots and received final briefings on enemy $def ences, air ief uelling tracks, positions of supporting ECM forces and theprocedures. The targel weathdr was briefed as good. The strike group tookbn schedule and rdndezvoused with the KC-135 tankers for the pre-sref uelling.The pilots then set an easterly course across southern North Vietnam toGulf of Tonkin. and from there north to the tarqet area. Approaching the tarulf of Tonkin, and from there nbrth to the target area. Approaching thea\/an/^na nnr rld qeo that thA weether forecaster had been correct. No tr

ulf of Tonkin, and from there north to the target area. Approaching the tareveryone could see that the weather Jorecaster had been correct. No troubsome clouds were evident and the flights positioned for the attack.With the target in sight, the lead aircraft rolled in for the kill, unleashingLGBs at the br-idge. Plane aJter plane followed, with each pilot hoping thaanti-aircraft flash6s on rhe ground did not signal a shot destined for his aircAs they dropped more bombs on the target, the last few pilots saw large cloof dusi and belches of fire as the bombs exploded on the bridge. After the Known to theVietnamese asHamRung, or the Dragon's J aw, the I 65-m(540-ft) long Thanh Hoa bridge was amassive reinforced concrete andsteejstruclure, l 7 m (56 tt) wide.Apartfrom its innate strength, itwasprctected byamurderousconcenkation of light and mediumanti-aircraft gruns.

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,, :::i,:+,i;#:::iir'jil:g:.:.:;:]+g1472


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'- -aii had pulled away from the target. the strike pilots knew the bridge was.. -; and headed for home - misson accomplished.',: arrcraft haci been damaged, even though the AAA and SAM fire had been..'se. Post-strike photography by RF-4Cs confirmed the strike pilots' assess-' - - r. The western span of the bridge had been knocked completely off its 1 2-m- 'tl thick concrete abutmeni and the bridge superstructure was so criticaily.'gured and twisted that rail traffic would come to a standstill {or at least, . .:ral months.-'re nterdiction campaign against North Vietnam grew in intensity during May. :"2, and the enemy LOCs showed signs of crumbling under the continuoL.is..-lrlt by Ainerican air power. Guided bombs were used with increasing-..I riarity and success.3'l the end of Mav 1972, there were 13 important rail br"idges down along the. .: rnajor rail lines running north east and north west from Hanoi. There were.^:rher four rail bridges down between Hanoi and Haiphong, and sevei-al more-:: been dropped on the rail line running south from Hanoi.The Dragonisdown- t:ough the bridge had been severely damaged on the 13 May strike, the:-b irous North Vieinamese immediately began to repair its structure so that': lr-affic could again cross the Song Ma River. As a result, itwas necessaryto.:redulestrikesperiodicallytohinderthei'epairefforts.Thenavyflewll more-^ ssions against the Thanh Hoa bridge and the US Air Force two more missions,::cre 23 Oatober 1 972, the day President Nixon stopped ail bombing o{ North:tnam. With this bomblng halt, the saga of the 'Dragon's Jaw' came to a close- :nouqh bombinq would be seen over North Vietnam aqain durinq 'Linebackeough bombing would be seen overn December 1 972, the Thanh Hoa br Vietnam again during'Linebackerin December the Thanh Hoa bndge was not on the target list during the;'r-rpaign, for it was stili in a state of disrepairI he McDonnel Douglas F-4 Phantom.as tlie mosf yers atile tacticale;:craft used by the USAF in Southlast Asia. Il equipped the 8th TFW,casecf al Ubon rn Thailand. Knawn ,Knawnasasecf al Ubon ln: t e'Walfpack MiG K illers', their.rcssessjon of tft e F-4 together with::e new guided bombswas togive:nem a new nickname inthe spring of. 72:they had become the'Bridgei sters'.

Modern Airto-Ground V,/e an oi''Early strikes against the bridge had shown that bambs of less ifiar {,.,' .::( 1,400 b) did litUe more then ficJcJe tlre massjvely cans truc te d b r : d ; t, .: : .I 972 strikes, the guiCed bombs were all in the gb1 to I 560 kg ( 2.aii-:c : . . .cJass. Ihe af facks of 27 April and I 3 May were ta be the knoika ul p ;,: :.- : * rDragon'sJaw.

--';{Ii:ilti/ ,,'il.j /l

't:.


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Hunting Enginee ring JP233 andr Raketen-Technik GmbH (RTG) Mehrzweckwaffe-I (MW-l)rc dispenserweapons-: arm their Panavra Tornado strike::i lnterdiction aircraft, the Bntish= j West Germans independently de-:-;-ed and built large container dis-:::.ser weapons for installation be-:-:a;h ihe fuselaqre. The Hunting JP233,.--:cugh originally a joint venture with:-e Americans will be primarily used:r' ;e Royal Air Force In counler-at.r: 3ratlons to close Warsaw Pact=-lelds whilst retarning the capability: be used aqainst other types of:-ge s where large-scale disruption of:,-:-:ary movements is required, To::::r'rplish these oblectives two types-^: s-;bmunrtions are dispensed: thatr:s-gnated SG357 is designed to dam-:;: and render inoperative such facili-::s as concrete runways, taxiways and;:a:s operating strips, whilst the::3?6 area-denial submunition is de-s-1eci as a continuous threat to vehi-::s cr personnel trying to repair the::::er damaqe caused by the SG357.- : ensure an effective cbverage of the::rjet area, both types are dispensed:::-iltaneously in a co-ordinated sequ-::-:e of 30 SG357s and 215 HBB76s=r:r-i Royal Arr Force Tornado will car-:.' :io of the JP233 pods, and the dis-::-er can also be conflgured for car-:--;e by aircraft such as the General- ;-amrcs F-16 Frghting Falcon:- contrast wrth the British approach::-: vVest Germans have developed,,: RTG MW-I multi-purpose dispen-.=: .f,r use aqainst airfieids and mas

sed armoured units on the move. Thesubmunitrons carried are thus divtdedinto two main{arget qroups that can bepreset lust before flring to be scatteredover an area about 500m (1,640ft)wide and up to 4000 m (13, 125 ft) longdepending upon the target's natureand concentration. For the anti-armourmission the MW-i carries GrouP Lwhich comprises 672 M1FF anti-armour mines (each with two backlo-back HEAT warheads), or 4,500 KB44anti-armour/anti-personnel shaped-charge fragmentation bomblets, or acombination ol the two. Thrs versionhas already entered Luftwaffe sewice,whereas Group 2 for anti-airfield usewill not be in sewice until 1987. Thisqroup comprtses either a single load of224 STABO braked dual-warheadcratering munrtions or various com-binations of 672 MIFF mines, MUSAdeiayed-act ron fragmentationminelets and MUSPA acoustically-activated area-denial mines. Thismeans that to close- a runway effective-ly several Luftwaffe Tornados will haveto overfly the runway to cut it with STA-BO-filled MW-ls whilst others sow thesurroundinq areas wrth the mixedloads of area-denial submunitions, TheItalian air force has also ordered theanti-runway MW-L 1n a modified formcarrying only a STABO payload.

UKWEST GERI\,4ANY

ATomado dkgorges a shower ofsubmunitions from itsJP233dkpensers. Conventional bombs cancrater arunway, but holescan quickly

Left: As with most of the modernfamily of dispenser weapons, theMW- I can carry a wide variety ofsubmunitions, including anti- arrnourmines Ior dealingwith tankformations or crateringweapons torender enemy airfields unusable.

be filled; the 30 5G357 bomblets iJP233 penetrate andfracture ahuarea of the ancrete surtace.

Above: The JP233 is more specifdesigmed for the airfield denialwith its cratering submunitionsbeingseconded by anti-vehicleanti-personnel weapons desigmhamper any iunway repair effor

British Aerospace Dynamics Group/Marconi Space andDefence Systems Air-Launched Anti-Radar Missile(ATARM)

l:-= BAe/MSDS ALARM was de--=-:;:i o meet the early l980s re-j--,:::-::: cf Air Staff Tarqet (AST).--: ,-: ,'.as rn oirect competltion'--.:- .:-: -:-:rerrcan AGM-BB HARM for= = L:-.'al Air Force buy of around

2,000 rounds In july 1983 it wasannounced that the ALARM was thechosen mrssrle wrth the first produc-tion rounds to enter service in 1987.The desrqn rationale of ALARM is thatit is an autonomous system light

enouqh for several to be carried on astrike arrcraft rn addition to its normalinterdiction payload. The weight isthought to be around 175 kg (385 1b),and the weapon can be fltted to fixed-wtnq aircraft down to the size of the

Left: Similar to Sky Flash in size, ALARM missile has been chosenprovide the Royal Air Force withs ta te -of- the - art defencesuppressron-BAe Hawk as well as to lamachines such as the Panavia Tdo; the missile can also be installhehcopters.


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BAe Dynamics Group/Marconi Space and Defence Systems ALARM (continued) Modern Air{o-Ground WeaponNo reliable specifications of the mis-srle have yet been released, but theconfig,uration appears to follow that ofthe Sky Flash AAM though with a lar-ger body allied to smaller wings andcontrol surfaces. TWo modes ofopera-f,on will apparently be used: the self-Cefence mode, whereby the sophrsti-cated Marconi broad-band seekerlocks onto an emlttlng radar whilst themissile rs still on the carrier; and the

defence-suppression parachutemode, whereby the misslle is fued asthe arrcraft approaches the target, TheALARM then zooms up under pow-ered flight to a height of aroundi2i90m (40,000f1), where it cuts itsmotor and pitches over to point down--,vards at the end ofa drogme parachutedeployed after the motor is cut, The

The sophisticated electronics andguidance planned Ior ALARMpromise an extremely capablemissile that can deal with a widerange of targets.Nevertheless, it isstill in the early stages ofdevelopment.seeker then begdns a search for radaremitters. from which the most impor-tant sigmal rs identified, and then com-mands the missile to drscard the para-chute and relight the rocket motor sothe missile can attack the chosensource. At present the Royal Air Forceuses limited stocks of the AmericanAGM-45 Shrike and the AS,37 ARMversion of the Anglo-French MartelASM for the defence-suppression task,

= fi"*"r Instruments AGM-45 Shrike and General DynamicAGM-78 Standard ARM *:*i..:,::r,,::i..:::i.",1rri.:.:.:..'::::.r:i,..:::.,\::::,==,=#Specialized anti-radar mtsstles.ARMs) were developed by the US\avy from l95B onwards as a means ofrlproving the suwivability of conven-:onal attack aircraft, either by deter-:-ng the enemy from operating hrs de-:ensive radar or by directly destroying--re radar's antenna, The flrst tacticaliRM to enter production was theTexas Instruments AGM-4SA Shrike in--q63, This was essentially a SparrowiiM airframe wrth an enlarged blast-:agmentatron warhead and a smaller:Jcket motor, Although used exten-s-'rely by the US forces in Vietnam, by-=ael against the Arabs and by the UK-:: the 1982 Falklands war, the Shrike:-as displayed a not altogether satisfac-::ry performance as a result of design-rnitatrons associated pnmarily wrth':e seeker, There are no memory cir-:rts available, and this means that the:iutdown of the radar being attackedlauses the missile to go ballistrc, The-eker is also rigidly mounted, so the::-ssile must be pointed towards the:{get at launch, and the seeker has to:e tuned before take-off to the;;avelenqth band of the radar system*lder attack, otherwise it cannot pick-p any emrssions, A total of 13 different-=ekers to cover likely target systems:-3s thus been developed, Total pro-j:ction for the USAF and US Navy wasai:out lB,50O.rounds, the larger num-rer going to the former service, which-es it primarily on the McDonneillcuglas P-4G Phantom 'Wild Weasel-l defence-suppression aircraft:lgether with the General DynamicsAGM-78 Standard ARM,The latter missrle was contracted in-366 because the Shrike's combat per-::rmance was found to be bad, Desig-:-ated AGM-78A Standard in its initial::rm, rt was based on the Standard::ipboard SAM and imtially equrpped;nth the Shrrke seeker with all its faults.?roduction soon shifted to.the AGM-?8B version with a gimballed wide-:and seeker and a memory circult thal::quired no pretuning, thus permittingir attack even ifthe radar had ceased:mitting signals. An AGM-78C variantTas then produced for the US Air:crce, the subsequent AGM-78D andAGM-78D2 models further increasing-:e seeker capabilities, Over 3,000::ulds had been burlt by the time the

last delivery of a batch of AGM-78D2mrssiles was made in Augnrst 1976, Ulti-mately both the Shrrke and Standardwill be replaced by the AGM-BBAHARM, and curent operators of thetype are Israel (not certainly), SouthKorea, the US Air Force, US MarineCorps and US Navy, The Shrke is inslighlly more widespread service, cur-rent operators including lran, Israel,the UK, US Air Force, US Marine Corpsand US NavySpecificationAGM-45ShrikeTlpe: anti-radiation air{o -surfacemissileDimensions: length 3.048 m (10 ft 0 in);spanO,914 m(3 ft0 in); diameter0.203 m (B in)Launchweight: 176,9 kg (390 lb)Propulsion: solid-propellant rocketmotorPerformance: speed Mach 2; ranqe46.5 km (28,9 miles); CEP reasonable ifthe target radar continues to emitGuidance: passive radar-homingWarhead: 65,8-kg (1451b) HE blastfragmentationSpecificationAGM-78 Standard ARMTlpe: anti-radiatlon air{o-surfacemissileDimensions: lenglh4,572 m (i5 ft 0 in);span 1,092 m (3 ft 7 rn); diameter0,343 m (13.5 in)Launchweight:615, I kg (1,356 lb)Propulsion: solid-propellant rocketmotorPerformance: speed Mach 2.5; range112,65+ km(70+ mlles); CEPgoodeven rfthe target radar ceasestransmittrngGuidance: passive radar-homingWarhead: 97, 4-kq (2 14. Zlb) HE blastfragmentationBelow: Developed from a navalarea defence mr'ssilg tfi e SlandardARM has the excellentrangeofoverI I 2 km (70 miles). ?fie mrssi,le is alsoavailable to be fired from Standard-equipped ships for the anti-radarrole-

d{FBased upon the AIM-7 Sparrow AAM airframe, the Texas Instruments Shrikhas a largerwarhead andless powerful rocketmotor. Althoughusedextensively, the pertormance is less than satisfactory.

Above: The much larger and morecapab le S tand ard ARM (foreground)is replacing the Shrike (background)inUS service. Developedfrom theStandard naval SAM, the ARM hxmemory cir cuit which en able s i t toattack aradar site evenwhen it hasstopped transmitting.

Above: The smallsizeof theShrike(seen here mounted on a Douglas A-4Slqhawkof theUSNavy) limits thebeen used to great effect by Israeldeal with Syrian missj,le sjfes rn t/reLebanon.electronic fit. Neyerlheless, ifft as


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fi"*", Instnrments AGM-884 High-speed Anti-RadiationAlthough the Standard ARM was animprovement on the Shrke, its combatperformance in Vietnam was still notvery irspiring as its memory circultsproved less than satisfactory, Also theStandard was five times costlier andthree times heavier than the Shrike, soa requirement for a new ARM wasestabhshed. The result was the TexasInstniments AGM-88A HARM, whlchemphasizes high speed so that any de-fending radar operator has only minimum warning times to 'shut down' hissystem; this attacker's advantage ismultiplied by the fact that the launchplatform does not need to execute anycharacteristic launch manoeuwe,Initial development of the HARMbegan in late 1969 by the US Nary, butprogEess was halted by severe tech-nical problems which were not re-solved until 1973. Further delays werethen experienced with the Texas In-struments gnridance seeker and initialproduction deliveries were not madeuntil 1983. The missile has three modesof operation: the self-protection mode,in. which a threat receiver on thelar.rnch platform detects a radar stgnaland programmes the missiles seekerbefore it is flred; the 'target-of-opporhrnity'mode, in which the sensitive seeker on the missrle itself lockson to an emitting radar; and the 'pre-briefed' mode, in whrch the missile isfired blind in the general direction of apossible target with its seeker sear-ching for a sigmal onto which the mis-sile can home, In the last mode, failureto detect a signal initiates a program-me for self-destruction, Lrke its twopredecessors, the HARM can also befued in a 'loft' manoeuvre to increaseits rangre, the target being acquired onthe downward portion of the trajec-tory, The warhead is detonated at apreset height over the tarqet by a laserproximity fuse in order to maximizedamage to the antenna and electro-nlcs.SpecificationAGM-884Type: anti-radiation air{o-swfacemissileDimensions: Ienqth 4. 171 m ( 13 ft8.2 in); span 1, I 18 m (3 ft B in);diameter0,254 m(I0 in)Launch weight: 36 1. I kg (796 lb)Propulsion: solid-propellant rocketPerformance: speed Mach 3*;range74.4+ Urn(46,23* miles); CEPverygood

Missile (HARM) Similar in appearance to the Shrmissile it will replace, HARM (Higspeed Anti- Radiation Mis s ile islarger weapon with a greatlyimproved pedorm ance. I t will akreplace the S tandard ARM, havinsimilar perform ance with mu chimproved electonics.

Travelling at more than 3200 km/h (2,000 mph), this sequence of HARM in its final approach would take a splitsecond. Designed to use its very highspeed to give the opposingradar operator as little time as possible to switchoff whendetected,HARM destroys its targetsbymeans of a66-kg(145-lb) high-explosive blastwarhead.

Guidance: passive radar-homingWarhead: 65,8-kg (i45lb) HE blastfragmentatlonCarried on a Mfionnell DouglasF-4G Phantom, HARM missiles arej ust entering US seruice. Initialrequirem ent was for almos t 7 00

m jssj/et a t a u nit cost of nearly amillion dollars per missile , withlarger numbers to be procurediyears to come,

E fit"itts AGM-69A Short-Ranse Attack Missile (SRAM)In 1964 the US Air Force besan de-velopment of the Boeing AGM-694SRAM, for use primarily against majordefensive rnstallations deep withinenemy terrltory whilst the launch plat-form remains outside the enemy's en-gagement zone, The missile was alsorequired to atlack main-missiontargtets as well rf they were suttable oriJ they had exceptionally heatry antt-aircraft defences. The first productionround was delivered to the StrategicAir Command in 1972, the last of 1,500berng delivered three years later,Some I,150 SRAMs currently remain inthe operational inventory, The major1476

carrier ofthe type is the Boeing Strato-fortress, the B-52G and B-52H modelseach being able to carry 20 missiles,The more usual load is six or eightSRAMs as well as four tree-fall thermo-nuclear gnavity bombs. The GeneralDynamics FB-i I 1A can carry uP to stxSRAMs, but those aircraft which docarry them as part of their normalweapons load only have just two,Four basic flight proflles can be util-rzed in an attack: semi-ballistic fromthe point of launch to the tarqet; alti-meter-controlled terrain-following;ballistic pull-up ftom behind screen-ing terrain using inertially-gurded

flight for the terminal phase; and acombination of inertial and terrain-following. Each profile can further beenhanced by the progrrammrng intothe missile's onboard guidance systemof deviations in direction of up to 180".The range depends entirely uponwhat launch altitude and flight profile ischosen. Once over the target the war-head can either detonate on contact toQnve a erround burst or at a preset alti-tude to glve an air burst nuciear explo-sion, the type of explosion being

E quipping S tr a tegic Air C omm abomber force, the AGM - 6 I A SR(Shor t R ange Attack M issile ismainly designed for interdictionduties deep behind enemy lineschosen according to the targetand the damage level requiredmissile's computer can be retargat any time up to launch, The SRexpected to stay in service for aber of years to come,


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SpecificationAGM-69AType: short-range airto-surfacestrategic mrssileDirnensions: length4,267 m (14 ft 0 in)io internal carriage or 4,826 m ( 15 ft-0 in) for external carriage; spani.762m(2 ft6 in); diameter0,445 m117 5 in)Launchweight: 1016 kq (2,240 Ib)Propulsion: two solid-propellant:ocketmotorsPerformance: speed Mach 3, 5; rangebetween 56,3 andB0.5 km (35 and 50riles) at low altitude, or behveen 160,9ind 221, 3 km ( 100 and 137. 5 miles) at:-Lgh altitude; CEP 457 m (500 yards)Guidance: inertialWarhead: W69 17O-kiloton yield:,uclear

SRAM is carried by Boeing B-52Gbombers andby theFB-[ I I ofSAC.The SRAM's Mach 3.5 speed and low-:evel range of up to 80 km (50 miles)allow bombers tomake stand otf.ttacks.

ffi iit"insAcM-86 Air-LaunchedCruise Missile (ALCM):.: Boeinq A.LCM is the result of a US.r-: Force requirement to provide an

=-:-launched strategrc weapon for de-:.:yment on the Boernq B-52 bomber=:-i successor designs.i he onginal AGM-864 was to be in-=::hangeable with the AGM-694::.AM on the latter's internal B-52=-;rt-round rotary launcher, However,::rause the weapon was considered'- .oe short on range, and because of a, : artment of Defense's 1979 decision- :cld a fly-off between the AGM-BOA--.i the General Dynamics AGM-109- ,:-Lahawk cruise missile, a consider---_,' stretched version, the AGM-868,'.< produced, This was some 30 per,-:. Ionger and effectively doubled

With a range in excess of 3000 km(1,850 miles), theAGM-688 gives theUSAF a weapon which will enable itsbombers to make strategic attackswithout having to face the task oftrying to penetrate modern defences.the missrles range for a grven war-head,In 1980, following a considerable de-lay rn announcing the results, the USArr Force revealed that the AGM-B6Bwas the chosen weapon. The flrst tv\rorounds were delivered to the StrategicAir Command in 1981. The B-52G isbeing modified to carry 12 AGM-BOBmissiles on two underwing pylonswhilst retaining its internal load of

SRAMs and free-fall nuclear bombs,The more modern B-52H will have thesame external pylon load, but thebomb bay of each aircraft ts to be re-built to accommodate an additionaleight ALCMs on a new rotary laun-cher. The follow-on Rockwell B-1B willbe able to contain the same rnternalrotary launcher and up to 14 moreALCMs will be carried on externalracks, A total of 4,348 ALCMs rs plan-

ned before productLon j,',-.-::.-.r 'Advanced Crurse MssLl- :=:.;-B-52H aircra{t are being mocii:.:accept a rotary ALC M |aun ch e : -:their bomb bays. Crujse m jss:- ecarriers are to be fitted with spr::.leading edge extensions, inaccordancewith the SALT trea:-5-enable identitication by surve : - - z:.sate/fites.

ii.i:::,-t


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Boeinq AGM-86 ALCM (continued)SpecificationAGM-868Type: au-launched strategic cruisenrssileDirnensions: length 6.325 m (20 ft 9 in);span3.658 m (12 ft 0 in); diameter3.693 m(27,3 in)launchweight: 1281.4 kg(2,825 lb)Propulsion: one h.rbofanPerformance: speed 805 lcr/h. .(d00 mph); range 3138 kn (1,950miles); CEPbetween 10and30 m(32.8and 98.4 ft)Guidance rnertial with terrain contourupdatingWarhead: WBO- I 2OO-kiloton yleldrucieatM aj or carrier of ALCMs will be theRxkwell B- I B bomber. Until it entersservice, the trusty old B-52 (some ofwhich are older than their pilots )will remain the primary deliverysys tem. The B- I B will carry I missilesinternally and 26 onunderwingpylans.

ughes/IVlartin AGM-62 WalleyeDeveloped from 1963 onwards by theJS Naval Weapons Center at China-ake, with first production deliveriesby Hughes in 1966 and by second-source contractor Martin Marietta in1967, the HugheVMartin AGM-62 Wal-leye family of TV-gmided unpoweredglide bombs entered rnto the USNavy's weapon inventory in the latterI'ear. The first version was the AGM-62A Walleye I, of which 4,531 wereproduced, This could be carried atloeeds up to Mach 1,9 and be laun-:hed from altitudes up to 10670 m:35,000 ft), It was r.sed extensively iniire Vietnam War, 920 being used tn'ire 1972 'Linebacker Ii' missions alone.iis tarqets were mainly large buildings-rnth interior contrast wlndows and va-nous types of bridgtes. Against the 'soft'wooden bridge structtues the resultswere excellent, but when a 'hard'bridge (requiring a span to be des-:oyed) was attacked the result was':sually only bent girders. As the war-head was not large enough to attacksuch 'hard' targets, Martrn Manetta:onverted 1,481 of the Walleye Is andb'rnt 529 new missiles to the lonqer-rangre Walleye II confignrration, with a,";arhead over twlce the original sizeaad a new seeker with a smaller 'gate':cr shghtly grreater accuracy, The Wal-leye gmrdance system allows the pilot:c lock-on before launch, Iaunch the-;eapon and then exit the area, The:nly requirement is that the selectedi3Jget must contrast sharply (in visual.iems) with its surroundings so that thegiyro-stabilized TV camera in the Wal-ieye's nose can be 'gated' beforelaunch to remain pointing at the area of:lgh contrast and thus gmide the mis-sile in flight. As it closes the tarQlet the,Valleye II gains accuracy since the-r:agre it sees is expanded in the TV{,'stem's field of view,To extend the range of the missilesrll farther, a lock-on-after-launch;ariant was introduced, Thrs requlreda --ffo-way datalink so that the pilot in-:-e retinnq aircraft could see the TVprciule in order to select a tarqet ando:mmand the lock-on, The result wasire Extended-Range Data-Link(ERDL) Walleye, which entered initialproduction in 1972, A total of 1,400 Wal-

Right: Television guided, the Walleye ,isa3.54 m(11 ft4 in)grlidebomb rwith a 375 kg(825Jb) shapedcharge :'warhead in its original torm. Latermodels have a much greaterwarload.

leye I and 2 400 Walleye II roundshave been converted to this configura-tion. The US Navy prefers to use a tvuo-aircraft formation with this weapon,one to carry and launch the missile,and the other to order lock-on or qxdeit manually all the way to the tarqetusing the data-link pod, Three ERDLWalleye IIs were combat-testedagainst targets irursible to the pilot atthe time of launch during the 1972bombinq of North Vietnam, and allthree scored direct hits. A nuclear ver-sion of the Walleye I, with the 100-kiloton yield W72 warhead, was alsooperated by the US Navy between1970 and 1979. Against tank-sizedtargets the maximum range of most ofthe USA's gnrided weapons is 4.8 km (3

miles). The Walleye is also used byIsrael.SpecificationWalleye seriesTlpe:gmided glide bombDimensions: Iength (Walleye I)3.454 m (11 ft 4 in) and (Walleye II)4,039 m (13 ft 3 in); span (Walleye I)1, 156 m (3 ft 9.5 in) and (Walleye II)1,295 m (4 ft 3 in); diameter (Walleye I)0.3 1B m ( 12, 5 in) and (Walleye II)0.457 m (18 in)Launchweight: (Walleye I) 512.6 kg(1,I30 lb) and (Walleye II) 1061,4 kg(2,340Ib)Performance: range (Walleye I)between LB and 29.6 kn (1,12 and 18,4miles) and (Walleye II) between LB

Walleye II is seen aboard an USCorsair . Most recent developmWalleye has centred around thDL modification; larger wingsthe glide range and enhancedelectronics allowthemissile toreleased before lock-on, subseguidanie being prov ided by alink.and 45 km ( 1. 12 and 28 miles), wERDL versions have a maximumextended by at least 30 per cent;between 4,6 and 6. I m (15 and 20Warhead: (Walleye 1) 374,2-kg (HE linear shaped charge, and(Walleye II) B6 l.B-ks (1,900-lb) Hlinear shaped charqte


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Area Deniql WeaponsWhile battle across the Central Front in Europe remains anunlikely prospect, military planners nevertheless have torespond to a potential threat. Given the currentSovietnumerical superiority in conventional terms, NATO has toconsider methods of dealing with multiple targets with oneshot.Designed specifically to prevent passage of enemy troops and vehicles, thearea--denial weapon usually consists of a dispenser with a number of submuni-tions in the form of bomblets or mines fitted with one or more type of fuse,These last may be of the delayed-action type, whereby the submunitlon becom-es live on ly after a preset time period has passed; or of the permanent f use type,',vhereby the device is live f rom the moment of laylng and remains so until it isietonated by an external source; or of the self-destruct type, whereby the,,veapon is live when laid but after a preprogrammed time renders itself some-row inoperative, or more simply explodes.The US armed forces, using the experience of the Vietnam War as theirguideline, were especially gifted in developing munitions of this type. The US Air-crce's latest example is the current Gator anti-armour mine system. Designed'cr laying from high-speed aircraft of all the services for interdiction of second-:chelonJorces in assembly areas and on the march, the Gator has as submuni-:ons the Honeywell BLU-g1/B magnetic influence anti-tank mine and thererojet BLU-92/B anti-personnel fragmentation mine. Each mine has threeselectable self-destruct times, the chosen period being set on the dispenserrefore the mission. A total of six Cluster Bomb Units (CBUs) have been iden-:fied with the system: the CBU-78/B and CBU-84/B each carry both types of- ne, the CBU-82/B and the CBU-8S/B carry the BLU-91/8, and the CBU-83/B'rC CBU-86/B carry the BLU-92/8.in European circles the British have not had the same inclination to follow this:;th, but instead have evolved the Hunting Engineering JP233, which will be-sed with a cratering submunition and an area-denial weapon to prevent repairs:: lhe area damaged by the cratering device.The West Germans have taken this concept further with their MW-1 multi-:-'pose dispenser, for which they have produced a whole range of predomi--:ntly area-denial type submunitions. These are subdivided into two mixes for-s: against specific classes of targets.

Surprisingly lsrael, which has had more combat experience than most againthe whole spectrum of targets likely to be encountered during air-to-surfacoperations in any future war, has not been seen to use area-denial weaponsthe types described above. lt prefers instead to rely on more conventional irbombs with simple delay-action fuses and on ihstantaneous effect CBUs suas the TAL-1 and TAL-2.The Soviets have in contrast used a number of area-denial weapons du ring thAfghanistan war, where for example helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft hadropped canisters that dispense in flight large numbers of small irregularlshaped plastic PFM-1 minelets filled with sufficient liquid explosive to blow of:person's hand or foot, This is a particularly eff ective weapon against the mujahdeen guerrillas, who have to walk and to use animals to carry their weapons asupplies. ln the same category must be placed the persistent chemical agenfilled iron bomb and shell, which significantly restrict or totally prevent movment by unprotected personnel and equipment over any section of terracontaminated with an agent that is lethal to humans by skin .absorptioninhalation. The Soviets have used such bombs in Afghanistan, and the lraqhave used similar munitions against the lranians in recent months.A slightly different situation is covered by the very large mine-dispensirsystems used by helicopters. These are typified by the Valsella VS/MD scattedropping unit for carriage as an underslung load by medium- or hearry-lhelicopters. This system usually carries a mix of VS-1 .6 anti-armour and VS-50VS- lVk 2 anti-personnel mines, which are laid as part of a large'quick' react.minefield during rapidly changing tactical situations such as an enemy breathrough. This particular field is well covered by the ltalians, although l eGermany and the UK are now explorlng the possibilities.For the future the adaptation of 'smart' submunitions to area-denial techncgy is obvious, a case in point being the development of the Extended-RarAnti-armour Munition (ERAM) for use in the US Air Force's Tactical Mun'iDispenser, the SUU-65/B, to iorm the CBU-92/B munition. The ERAM is ejec:randomly over the target area and floats down on a parachute. Once on :ground, the weapon's three acoustic sensor probes are extended and tne r,Avco Skeet self{orging fragment (SFF) warheads are armed. When a targ3:detected, classified and tracked by the probes, the onboard data processcalculates the target's f uture position and aims the f irst Skeet launcher tor.,: -this point. The Skeet is then launched, engaging the target from above w l- :SFF warhead; the ERAM has in the meantime swung back to start a sweecanother target.

Above : An S UU (SuspendedUnderwing Unit) dispenser shows itsload of ERAM submunitions. Each ofthenine submunitions carries twoAvco S keet mines, each equippedwith infra- red and acousfic sensorsWhen dropped fft e canrsfer sfi eds jmines after deploying a parachute.

Above:Once on the ground, theERAM su bm unition deploys i ts threeacoustic and infra-red sensors. Oncean armoured vehicle is in range themine fires one of its Skeet munitions(like a clay pigeon, hence the name)to explode directly over the target.Left: ERAM before grounddeployment. If the Skeets do not finda target once launched, they do notexplode, but tall to the surface wherethey act as conventional mines. ThusERAM can be used to attack bothtank formations and lines ofcommunication.

Above: Explosion of an anti-armoursubmunition after detecting a tank.By launching the weapon high in theair above the tank the explosion canbe directed onto the weakest point inthe armour of a modern tank, the top.

Above: The force of the explodingshaped charge forms a dart-shapepenetrator out of a disk of copper inthe Skeet, which is then prcjected avery highvelocity to the thinner topsurface of the target. It can alsoexplode upwards when run over bytank.


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ffi iTugt es AGM-GS MaverickSmallest of the fully-guided launch-andleave ASMs for the US servtces,the Hughes AGM-65 Maverickwas ori-ginally a US Arr Force programme buthas now been adopted for both the USNavy and Marine Corps, The basiccentroid TV homing version, the AGM-65A, entered US Air Force servrce injanuary 1972, and at least 30 were flredin combat during that year in Vietnam;another 69 were fired by Israeh pilotsagainst Arab tarqets durrng the 1973Yom Kippur War, Although scoring 87hlts, the missile was found to be sev-erely limited in use because of the lowmagniflcatron of its TV camera, whichiorced pilots to close to well wrthin themaximum launch range in poor weath-er just to see the target clearly enoughto achieve a lock-on. To overcome thisproblem the AGM-658 scene-magniflcatron version was next pro-duced, This has the TV image mag-nif,ed to twice its previous size andmade clearer, thus enablingr the pilotto rdentify the target, lock-on the mis-sile and fire rt much more quickly andat a greater slant range than that oftheAGlt-65A,The follow-on version was the AGM-65C for the US Marine Corps, whrchwas laser-guided for use in the close-support role against targets desig-nated by ground-based or airbornelaser designators. The latter can beany of the Pave Knife, Pave Penny,Pave Spike or Pave Tack systems, oreven a compatible non-US designator,This weapon was superseded inL9B2 by the AGM-65E, which has a 136-kg (300-1b) penetrating blast frag-mentation warhead with a three-position selectable fuse delay.In May 1977 Hughes began de-velopment for the US Air Force of theAGM-65D with an imaging IR seekerthat enables the Maverrck to lock on ata range at least twice the distanceotherwise possible in European areasin mrst and rain or at niqht. It will be thestandard missile used with the LAN-TIRN nigiht and adverse-weather de-tection system now being fitted toUSAF General Dynamics F-16 FightingFalcon flqhter and Parrchild A-10Thunderbolt II attack aircraft,The US Narry will adopt the AGM-65F, which rs essentially the same asthe AGM-65D but wrth the warheadand fuse of the AGM-65E and modifiedguidance soflware to give maximumeffects against surface shrps, Weaponscf the AGM-65 series are fielded byEgypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Morocco,Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea,Sweden Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey,

Only2.49 m(8 ft2 in)longandweighing from 2 I 0 kg (463 Ib),Maverick is the smallestfire-and-forget missile in the USAF's tacticalinventory. It has been manufacturedin avariety of guidance systems,includinglR and laser.

Abov e : T he s tandar d M averic k canbe locked on to a target by the pilot ofthe releasing aircraft centring thepotential target on the monitorscreen in his cockpit. The infra-redversion has a similar method ofoperation, with the added advantageof being effective at night or in badweather.Right: Mavericks are loaded onto aF airchild A- 1 0 while on deploymentto Egypt as part of a'Bright Star'exercise. The missile is in use withthe Egyptian air force aswell as theair forces of I 2 or more countries.Tot al production of W M averic kalone is approaching 30,000 missiles.US Air'Force, US Navy, US MarineCorps and West Germany, Others arebelieved to be negotiating for the type.

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SpecificationAGM-6SMaverickType: air{o-surface missileDimensions:lenglh2.499 m (B ft 2 in);span 0 719 m (2 ft 4.3 in); diamete0.305 m (12 in)Launchweight:210 kg (463 lb) exAGM-65HF 287,4 kq (633,6 1b)Propulsion: solid-propeilant rockPerformance: speed subsonic: rabetween 0,9 and 24 2 km (0 56 andmiles); CEP about I 5 m (5 it) exceAGM-65C/E which rs less than thisfigureGuidance: (AGM-65A B/ TV Lmag(AGM-65C/E) laser-homing and(AGM-65D/F) imagins IRWarhead: 56.7-kg (125-lb) HE shacharge except AGM-65E/F 136, i-(3001b) HE penetrating blastfragmentationApair of AGM-65 Mavericks arecarried under the wing of aMcDonneil Douglas F-4 Phantomfirst aircraft to fire the missile inanger in Vietnam in I 97 2. AIso uin the Yom Kippur war of I 973, thMaverick requires good viewingconditions to be most effective.


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Armed Forces of the WorldBrifishArmU Par,Z:s with any army, that of the UK is divided into: rferent arms of the service, but the British army-:tains a regimental system that extends beyond:^e old infantry and cavalry allocations to all other.-ms. Very basically a soldier joins the army into a':giment or corps, and then remains with it through-:rt the main part of his service career. This is parti-:-larly true of the cavalry and infantry units and to a:sser degree the technical or other arms. lt is possi-: . to transfer from one arm to another (e.9. from.-e Royal Artillery to the Army Air Corps), and:-icers can take staff postings as opposed to regim

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