Lazy Dog (bomb)
The lazy dogs (translated: lazy dogs) were small, unguided kinetic projectiles that were dropped from an airplane over the combat area. They had a length of 44 mm, a diameter of 13 mm and a weight of 13.4 g. Strictly speaking, despite their appearance, the projectiles are not bombs, as they did not have an explosive effect.
They were used by the US Air Force in World War II , the Korean War and the Vietnam War and are a modification of the older aviator arrow from the First World War .
development
The design of the lazy dog bombs was almost identical to that of projectiles that had been developed in 1941 during World War II. However, the Lazy Dogs are further developments that arose through trials and operations during the 1950s and 1960s.
The name comes from the Armament Laboratory's Lazy Dog program. Various companies such as Delco Products Corporation , F&F Mold and Die Works, Inc. , Haines Designed Products and the Master Vibrator Company from Dayton, Ohio were involved in the development . The aim was to test free-fall projectiles and their drop containers for bombers and fighter planes. The projectiles were supposed to fight enemy soldiers with small projectiles, with the triple effect of the usual bombs that detonate over the target .
Experimental lazy dog projectiles were then tested in late 1951 and early 1952 at the Air Proving Ground at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. A Republic F-84 Thunderjet was flying at 400 knots (740 km / h) at an altitude of 75 feet (22.8 m) above the ground, while a Jeep and a decommissioned Consolidated B-24 Liberator served as targets. Eight impacts per square yard (0.84 m 2 ) were counted. Two forms from the test series, No. 2 and 5, were found to be most effective. No. 5 had the kinetic energy of a .50 caliber bullet and could penetrate 61 cm deep into compacted sand. No. 2 penetrated sand 30.5 cm, which is twice the energy of a .45 caliber projectile fired at close range.
commitment
Draft No. 2 projectiles were sent to the Pacific Air Forces, and their use in the Korean War began in mid-1952. The Air Force immediately ordered 16,000 dropping systems. The lazy dogs were then produced in Japan and the development program continued into the late 1950s.
In the Vietnam War, the Lazy Dogs were a very effective weapon against troops who were under cover of the forest. The ammunition was also cheap to manufacture and easy to spread over large areas. They could be dropped in a variety of ways - from buckets, by hand, in their paper packaging or in the Mk-44 adapter. These adapters were delivered empty and filled by hand with between 245 and 283 kg of Lazy Dogs. The theoretical maximum number of Lazy Dog projectiles per adapter was given as 17,500.
swell
- ↑ Lori S. "On The Front Line Of R&D", 2001, ASC History Office DEVELOPMENT TO COMBAT: Additional Technological Developments ( Memento of January 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive )