BLU-107 Durandal

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BLU-107 Durandal


An F-111 carrying multiple BLU-107 Durandals.

General Information
Designation: BLU-107 Durandal
Type: Rocket propelled bomb with hardened penetration head against runways
Country of origin: France
Manufacturer: Matra , now MBDA
Commissioning: 1977
Technical specifications
Combat weight: 219 kg
Length: 2500 mm
Diameter: Warhead and booster: 212 mm.
Parachute canister: 223 mm
Span: 430 mm
Drive: Solid rocket booster (92.4 kN thrust) to accelerate the weapon up to 260 m / s
Furnishing
Warhead: 100 kg, highly explosive
Steering: no
Detonator: Time detonator, delay 1 second
Weapon platforms: F-111 , F-16 , Dassault Mirage F1 , Mirage 2000 , Soko J-22 Orao in principle all aircraft with 356 mm NATO standard bomb locks
List of bombs by country of origin

The BLU-107 Durandal is a rocket propelled bomb named after the mythical French sword Durandal . It was developed in the early 1970s by the French company Matra  - now at MBDA France as part of the European Airbus group  - in collaboration with SAMP. The development was carried out on behalf of the Armée de l'air to destroy runways and aircraft bunkers at low altitude. It was introduced in 1977. The first aircraft that were approved for use with the Durandal were the Mirage F1 and Mirage 2000 .

Use and technology

It is dropped from the attacking aircraft from low altitudes and first opens a parachute . After the Durandal has reduced its airspeed and the head is only inclined 20-30 degrees from the vertical, the parachute is released and the rocket motor ignited. The rocket motor, which is designed as a solid-fuel rocket , accelerates the Durandal up to 260 meters per second in order to generate enough kinetic energy to break through the surface. The BLU-107 is able to penetrate up to 400 millimeters of concrete before it is ignited by its delay fuse. The explosion beneath the surface of the runway leaves a large, mostly underground crater . This explosion damage is more difficult to repair than a crater that a free-falling bomb of comparable weight would create. It leaves a crater about 5 meters deep and 16 meters in diameter.

A Durandal weighs 219 kg and is 2.5 m long. The warhead contains 100 kg of highly explosive explosives. It is designed so that it can be attached to a standardized NATO 356 mm pylon .

User

Most of the Durandals were owned by the US Air Force . It was first tested at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory from 1982 onwards. Further tests were carried out during the Red Flag maneuver in January and February 1988. The Durandal was then introduced under the designation BLU-107 / B , mainly because the introduction of the BLU-106 / B BKEP (Boosted Kinetic Energy Penetrator) of the Air Force delayed. The program was then later discontinued. The BLU-107 / B was used by F-111E fighter-bombers in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm . After the F-111 was retired, the F-16 became the only platform the Durandal still used.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Information about Durandal on Janes.com (English, accessed on February 16, 2009)
  2. ↑ a b c Data on BLU-107 on Designation Systems (accessed on February 16, 2009)
  3. ↑ Data on the emergency aircraft on Janes.com (accessed on December 27, 2008)
  4. ↑ a b GlobalSecurity.org with information on Durandal (English, accessed December 27, 2008)