BLU-3 Pineapple
| BLU-3 Pineapple | |
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| General Information | |
| Designation: | BLU-3 Pineapple |
| Type: | Cluster munitions |
| Country of origin: |
 United States
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| Technical specifications | |
| Combat weight: | 0.79 kg |
| Charge: | 0.16 kg RDX |
| Length: | 95 mm, with extended blades: 170 mm |
| Diameter: | 70 mm |
| Detonator: | Impact fuse |
| Lists on the subject | |
The BLU-3 Pineapple was a fragmentation bomblet ( cluster munitions ) from the USA .
description
BLU-3 Pineapple got its name " pineapple bomb" because of its distinctive shape, which resembled a pineapple .
The BLU-3 were deployed through submunition containers. The bomblets were mostly ejected from the submunition container by compressed air or wind pressure from 19 ejection tubes in direct succession. After being ejected from the submunition container, the six pop-out drag shovels unfolded and stabilized the fall of the bomblet. The BLU-3 bomblet exploded on impact. The splinter jacket contained about 250 steel pellets 6.3 millimeters in diameter. These were released with high energy and were primarily effective against soft targets and unarmored vehicles. The splinter action circle was 10 to 15 meters. Injuries could occur up to a distance of 50 meters.
During the Cold War developed Poland by reverse-engineering a copy of the BLU-third This was called LBOk-1 .
Deployment systems
The BLU-3 Pineapple could be used from the following submunition containers:
- CBU-2A: SUU-7A spreader with 360 BLU-3.
- CBU-2B: SUU-7A spreader with 409 BLU-3.
- CBU-14: SUU-14A spreader with an unknown number of BLU-3.
- CBU-14A: SUU-14A spreader with an unknown number of BLU-3.
commitment
The US armed forces deployed large quantities of BLU-3s in Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War . There they were dropped by the tens of thousands from planes and helicopters. The fault-prone detonator of the BLU-3 proved to be disadvantageous. This often did not work properly. Many of the BLU-3s dropped in the 1970s are still a threat to the population today.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andreas Parsch: BAK to BSU / BSG - Equipment Listing
- ↑ Textbook of Civil Defense: Protection against Weapons of Mass Destruction , Military Publishing of the GDR 1982