Explosive bomb

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Explosive bombs in the broader sense are aerial bombs that produce their effect through the explosion of explosives . High-explosive bombs explode "as a whole" mostly on the ground by impact or time fuses .

  • Multipurpose bombs (often referred to as explosive bombs in the narrower sense; English designation GP bomb - "General Purpose") are high-explosive bombs with medium wall thickness and medium fragmentation effect. Multipurpose bombs can penetrate buildings or the ground before they explode. However, they can ricochet off the armor and bunkers and burst.
  • Cluster bombs are either provided with a relatively thick-walled fragmenting casing or contain additional fragmentation material. They have a lower proportion of explosives and also a lower explosive power. They explode in the air or immediately upon impact so that the splintering effect does not fizzle out in the ground. When the bomb explodes above the ground, e.g. B. by using a Dinort rod , the splinter effect is particularly strong. The steel shell does not have to be particularly hardened. They were usually used against so-called “soft targets” (people, unarmored vehicles).
  • Tank explosive bombs were also thick-walled, but made of specially hardened steel in order to be able to penetrate thick concrete ceilings or the armored decks of the earlier battleships .
  • Air mines or mine bombs are thin-walled, which is why they have a higher proportion of explosives in relation to their size and thus a particularly high explosive power; the splinter effect, however, is low. Air mines are mainly used against buildings. They were mainly used in World War II and were mostly larger than "ordinary" explosive bombs. Their task was to cover houses and thus expose the wooden roof trusses. Incendiary bombs that were subsequently dropped ignited it, which not infrequently led to firestorms such as those in Hamburg in 1943 or Dresden in 1945.
  • "Earthquake bombs", e.g. B. Grand Slam , were used against structures that were difficult to destroy from the air, such as bridges and viaducts. These were large explosive bombs that were deliberately dropped not directly on the target, but rather next to the target and buried deep in the ground. The subsequent explosion had an earthquake-like effect, which should bring the target structure to collapse.

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Wiktionary: Explosive bomb  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations