Bunker buster
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A bunker buster is a type of
Armor piercing shells
Germany
Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed by the German engineer August Coenders, based on the theory of increasing sectional density to improve penetration. They were tested in 1942 and 1943 against the Belgian Fort d'Aubin-Neufchâteau.[1]
Aircraft delivered bombs
World War II
Germany
In World War II the
United Kingdom
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/U-Boat_Pen_Grand_Slammed.jpg/170px-U-Boat_Pen_Grand_Slammed.jpg)
![Diagram showing cross-sections of a hole punched through a thick roof](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Disney_bomb_impact_test.png/220px-Disney_bomb_impact_test.png)
In
Though these bombs might be thought of as "bunker busters" today, in fact the original "earthquake" theory was more complex and subtle than simply penetrating a hardened surface. The earthquake bombs were designed not to strike a target directly, but to impact beside it, penetrate under it, and create a 'camouflet', or large buried cavern, at the same time as delivering a shock wave through the target's foundations. The target then collapses into the hole, no matter how hardened it may be. The bombs had strong casings because they needed to travel through rock rather than reinforced concrete, though they could perform equally well against hardened surfaces. In an attack on the Valentin U-Boat pens at Farge, two Grand Slams went through the 15 ft (4.5 m) reinforced concrete hardening[4]—equalling or exceeding the best current penetration specifications.
The British
For accuracy, the bombs had to be dropped precisely from a pre-determined height (usually 20,000 ft (6,100 m)).[6] They would free-fall for around 30 seconds until, at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), the rockets were ignited, causing the tail section to be expelled.[6] The rocket burn lasted for three seconds[7] and added 300 ft/s (91 m/s) to the bomb's speed, giving a final impact speed of 1,450 ft/s (440 m/s; 990 mph),[7] approximately Mach 1.29.[a] Post-war tests demonstrated that the bombs were able to penetrate a 14-foot-8-inch (4.47 m) thick concrete roof,[8] with the predicted (but untested) ability to penetrate 16 feet 8 inches (5.08 m) of concrete.[8]
United States
Post war, the US added a form of remote guidance to the Tallboy to create the
Modern
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Alihangar1.jpg/220px-Alihangar1.jpg)
During
An example of a Russian bunker buster is the KAB-1500L-Pr. It is delivered with the
The US has a series of custom made bombs such as the Paveway series of laser-guided bombs to penetrate hardened or deeply buried structures :
Depth of Penetration reinforced concrete |
Weapon Systems | |
---|---|---|
1.8 m (6 ft) | BLU-109 Penetrator |
GBU-27, AGM-130
|
3.4 m (11 ft) | BLU-116 Advanced Unitary Penetrator (AUP) | GBU-27, AGM-130
|
BLU-118/B Thermobaric Warhead | GBU-24, AGM-130
| |
more than 6 m (20 ft) | BLU-113 Super Penetrator | GBU-37
|
More recently, the US has developed the 30,000-pound
Fuzing
The traditional
Modern bunker busters may use a traditional fuze, but some also include a microphone and microcontroller. The microphone listens, and the microcontroller counts the number of floors until the bomb breaks through the desired numbers of floors. Northrop Grumman is working on the Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF) ,an electronic, cockpit programmable, fuze capable of destroying deeply buried and targets. It provides multiple delay arming and detonation times, as well as a void-sensing capability, which allows for precision activation of the fuze for 2,000-and-5,000-pound (910 and 2,270 kg) weapons to explode when they reach an open space in a deeply buried bunker.[11] [12]
Missiles
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Image-GBU-24_Missile_testmontage-gi_BLU-109_bomb.jpg/200px-Image-GBU-24_Missile_testmontage-gi_BLU-109_bomb.jpg)
The extra speed provided by a rocket motor enables greater penetration of a missile-mounted bunker buster warhead. To reach maximum penetration (impact depth), the warhead may consist of a high-density projectile only. Such a warhead carries more energy than a warhead with chemical explosives (kinetic energy of a projectile at hypervelocity).
Nuclear
The
See also
- T-12 Cloudmaker
- Disney bomb
- Rochling shell
Notes
- ^ Other sources mention a striking speed of 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s; 1,600 mph). (Johnsen 2003, p. 45, Burakowski & Sala 1960, p. 556)
- ^ "Les étranges obus du fort de Neufchâteau (suite)". derelicta.pagesperso-orange.fr (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ Project Ruby 1946, p. 214
- ^ "Earthquake Bombs". Barnes Wallis Foundation. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ^ RAF staff 2005.
- ^ Terrell 1958, pp. 197–212.
- ^ a b Burakowski & Sala 1960, p. 556
- ^ a b Project Ruby 1946, p. 18
- ^ a b Project Ruby 1946, p. 23
- ^ "Why the Pentagon is beefing up its 'bunker buster' bombs".
- ^ Kopp, Carlo (11 August 2009). "Soviet/Russian Guided Bombs". Air Power Australia.
- ^ "ATK Awarded Contract for Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF) Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) Phase." ATK, 5 April 2011.
- ^ [1] Northrop Grumman Newsroom, February 28, 2020. https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-awarded-110-million-for-us-air-force-hard-target-void-sensing-fuze
References
- Air Proving Ground Command Eglin Field (31 October 1946). Comparative Test of the Effectiveness of Large Bombs against Reinforced Concrete Structures (Anglo-American Bomb Tests – Project Ruby) (PDF). Orlando, Florida: US Air Force. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2011. "Running parallel with the development of large bombs was a project for obtaining high striking velocities by means of a rocket assisted 4,500-lb British bomb called the Disney. (...) As early as June 1945, the concrete V-weapon structure at Watten was used as a target".
- Burakowski, Tadeusz; Sala, Aleksander (1960). Rakiety i Pociski Kierowane [Rockets and guided missiles] (in Polish). Vol. Część 1 – Zastosowania (Volume 1 – applications). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej (Ministry Of National Defense Publishing House). pp. 556–557. Figure 280, p. 558, provides a detailed diagram of the Disney bomb (with its internals).
- Johnsen, Frederick A. (2003). Weapons of the Eighth Air Force. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 0-7603-1340-7.
- RAF staff (6 April 2005). "Grand Slam Raids". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007.
- Terrell, Edward (1958). Admiralty Brief: the story of inventions that contributed to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Harrap.
Further reading
- Alekseevskii, V. P. (1966). "Penetration of a rod into a target at high velocity". S2CID 97258659.
- Bernard, Robert S. (1978). Depth and Motion Prediction for Earth Penetrators (PDF) (Report). Vol. ADA056701. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Vicksburg. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- Parsch, Andreas (2006). "Textron (Avco) BLU-106/B BKEP (Boosted Kinetic Energy Penetrator)". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles fitted with bunker busting bombs to extend distances and to have horizontal as well as vertical movement and control. (Appendix 4). Retrieved 27 June 2011. US rocket-boosted submunitionagainst runways and hardened aircraft shelters.
- Young, C.W. (1997). Penetration equations (PDF) (Report). Vol. SAND94-2726. Albuquerque NM: Sandia National Laboratories.
This is a standalone report documenting the latest version of the Young/Sandia penetration equations and related analytical techniques to predict penetration into natural earth materials and concrete.
- Young, C.W. (1967). The Development Of Empirical Equations For Predicting Depth Of An Earth Penetrating Projectile (Report). Vol. SC-DR-67-60. Albuquerque NM: Sandia National Laboratories.
External links
- Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator
- BBC: 'Bunker buster' missiles aim at Moon
- Annotated bibliography for nuclear bunker buster bombs from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Bunker Busters
- Video against usage (produced by Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Video of bunker buster bomb in action
- Tunnel buster bomb