Defense Technology International - September 2007 - (Page 54) WEAPONS PRECISION U.S. AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY (AFRL) PHOTOS BLAST REDUCTION New airborne bombs localize destruction and reduce casualties DAVID HAMBLING•LONDON Dense Inert Metal Explosive creates a high-pressure blast that’s contained in a small area. P utting a bomb on target is the object of aerial bombardment. similar result. One reduces bomb size and composition. Boeing’s 5-ft. Civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction have been 11-in. 250-lb. GBU-39 Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) weighs half as tragic but secondary concerns. But, ideally, no more. Efforts much as USAF’s smallest bomb before it. Now, SDBs are being delivered are underway to minimize collateral damage with a new generation with a Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) warhead that concentrates of bombs that limit the potential for incidental death and destruction destructive power in a reduced area through use of a multi-phase-blast explosive and a carbon-fiber casing. while retaining the power to destroy targets. Standard bombs use steel casings half an inch thick or more, filled In the U.S. the focus is on the redesign of bomb casings, reformulation of explosives, use of multiple patterned charges and kinetic with high explosive. When the bomb detonates the blast causes capenetrators. The new bombs minimize shrapnel, confine blast energy sualties in a small radius, but its high-velocity shrapnel travels much farther. Even smaller bombs pose a risk of injury out to 1,200 ft. to small areas, and even release timed charges in preset patterns. In the FLM, the carbon-fiber casing disintegrates, leaving no dangerThe nature of warfare is shifting from pitched battles between industrial forces to asymmetric conflicts, often waged in populated ous fragments. It is filled with Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME), a areas. Media-savvy terrorists and other non-state combatants know material mixed with powdered tungsten. The tungsten particles act as that televised or Internet images of civilian deaths and ruined homes micro-shrapnel and are initially projected outward at high speed. Their can sway public opinion and affect deployment of opposing forces. size-to-weight ratio increases drag, so they don’t travel far. “Our objective was to have less than a Some media experts, in fact, claim 10% chance of serious injury at 100 ft.,” governments risk losing battles for public says Col. Richard Justice, commander of the opinion if they don’t counter the propa918th Armament Systems Group at Eglin ganda put out by their enemies (DTI June, AFB, Fla. “It’s much better than that.” p. 20). Al Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri has But at close range the blast is tremenbeen quoted as saying that more than half dous. The combination of shock wave and of the terror group’s battle against the West tungsten-particle impacts creates a much “is taking place in the media.” higher impulse than a normal explosive. The issue of collateral damage, es“You get high-intensity pressure in the near pecially when caused by peacekeeping field,” says Justice. “It is focused lethality.” forces, is so compelling that the U.S. The Air Force Research Laboratory and NATO, among others, are working (AFRL) quotes an effective radius for a aggressively to contain it. In a recent inDIME explosion at 40 times the diameter terview with London’s Financial Times, of the charge. The SDB would thus be leNATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop thal to about 25 ft., causing little damage Scheffer said alliance commanders are Passive Attack Weapon releases beyond that. Now in testing, the weapon configuring aircraft weapon loads to thousands of metal darts that neushould be available for use early next year. limit unintended casualties. tralize targets with little structural Similar technology is now in 105-mm. In the U.S., various programs seek a or environmental damage. DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2007 www.aviationweek.com/dti 54 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.