MW-1
The multi-purpose weapon 1 ( MW-1 ) was originally for the F-104G Starfighter provided and later for the Panavia Tornado acquired cluster munitions containers from German production for use against surface targets.
history
The procurement of the MW-1 for the German Armed Forces was decided in 1984 after more than 15 years of development. 1985 began the influx in the German air force . The manufacturer was Raketentechnik GmbH from Unterhaching . This was a subsidiary of Diehl and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) . Of the originally planned 2554 MW-1, only about 850 were purchased at a price of 2.315 billion German marks .
In addition to Germany, only Italy has the ability to use the MW-1, as special technical preparations are required for this. Initially, 100 units were ordered for the Italian Air Force , at least 30 of which were in a mine configuration.
description
The MW-1 is a system of three or four submunition containers with various small bombs and mines.
Submunition dispenser
The discharge containers consist of a rounded front and rear part and one or two middle parts. An attachment is made under the fuselage of the tornado on the two outer load carriers . The containers have up to 112 laterally arranged discharge tubes. Depending on the ammunition to be fired, the weight of the entire system is up to 4.7 tons. Loading trainers without ammunition were made for attaching and dismantling exercises. Airworthy training device was not developed.
Submunition
The container was designed in such a way that different types of submunition could be fired pyrotechnically from the side of the ejection tubes.
The following loading of the MW-1 was possible:
- KB 44 (small bomb 44; 42 per tube): Bomblet with fragmentation and shaped charge effect : for use against unarmored and lightly armored targets such as vehicles and parked aircraft etc.
- MUSPA (Multi-Splitter- Passiv -Aktiv; 6 per tube): Mine with active and passive sensors with fragmentation charge (2,100 metal fragments) for immediate or time-controlled detonation to destroy or damage aircraft and vehicles rolling by
- MUSA (Multi-Splitter-Aktiv; similar to MUSPA; 6 per tube): Mine with active sensors with fragment charge for immediate or time-controlled detonation
- MIFF (Mine-Flach-Flach; 8 per tube): anti-tank mine with double hollow charge ; including a magnetic field sensor
- STABO (runway bomb; 2 per tube): Bomb to destroy runways. The shaped charge, which initially detonates on impact, creates a channel in the surface. A supplementary charge creates an underground cavity that has to be laboriously removed in order to restore the runway.
In addition, two mixed loads are possible, which are optimized against tank / vehicle accumulations or airfields. The Bundeswehr procured the following models of the MW-1
| model | content | Procured number |
|---|---|---|
| DM11 | 668 MUSA | 147+ |
| DM12 | 4536 KB44 | 98+ |
| DM22 | 200 STABO | 177+ |
| DM31 | 88 MUSA + 508 MUSPA + 96 MIFF | 172+ |
| DM32 | 2184 KB44 + 448 MIFF | 250+ |
The mines dismantle themselves after a preset time.
The ASW (anti-shelter active body), a bomb against hardened aircraft protection structures (English shelters ) with a structure similar to the STABO, was developed but not procured.
The United Kingdom, another tornado user state, developed a counterpart to the MW-1 with the JP233 . Its submunition was optimized exclusively for airfields (runway bombs / mines) and was ejected downwards when crossing the target. British Royal Air Force and Saudi Air Force tornadoes were each able to carry two JP233 containers. This weapon was used in the Second Gulf War in 1991.
commitment
The MW-1 was procured at the time of the Cold War in order to be able to fight targets with a large spatial extent, such as enemy airfields or tanks, with as little force as possible. The target had to be overflown in the lowest flight . Depending on the load and the application profile, a range of 300 to 500 meters wide and 180 to 2500 meters long could be covered. To reduce weight and flow resistance and the resulting higher fuel consumption, the containers could be blown off the aircraft after the ammunition had been ejected.
The MW-1 was a single-use weapon. Ammunition and re-use after a mission was not possible.
Ban on land mines / cluster munitions
Like the submunition of cluster bombs or the JP233 , the MW-1 is also the focus of the current discussion about the use and storage of landmines and cluster munitions, despite a relatively low dud rate of a maximum of 1% and the self-destruction that is ensured over time.
Italy classified the MIFF and MUSPA as anti-personnel mines and then banned their use and ordered their destruction. The United States also see MUSPA as an anti-personnel mine.
Germany also classifies MIFF and MUSPA as mines that violate the relevant agreements and has therefore ruled out their use. There is still no official statement on the question of the classification of the MUSA, STABO and KB44 as cluster munitions and a ban on use and storage according to the Oslo process. Rather, reference has so far only been made to the parallel phase out of the MW-1 and the tornado.
Users
Image display
Small bomb KB44
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jeremy Flack: Guided and Drop Weapons of the NATO Air Force , Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-613-02525-6
- ^ History of the MW-1 on the homepage of the Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security; accessed on November 2, 2008
- ↑ Multi-purpose weapon control on the homepage of BASE TEN SYSTEMS Electronics GmbH; viewed on November 2, 2008 ( Memento from May 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Homepage of the Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security; accessed on November 2, 2008
- ↑ CONVENTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS - Reporting Formats for Article 7 - Germany 2010. (pdf) January 27, 2011, archived from the original on September 28, 2014 ; accessed on September 28, 2014 .
- ↑ Bundestag printed paper 16/6697 of October 10, 2007 (PDF, 90kb)
- ↑ Bundestag printed paper 16/2456 of August 25, 2006 (PDF, 122kb)