The most powerful bombs of the second world: Tallboy and Grand Slam
Country: UK
Designed: 1942
Weight: 5.4 t
Explosive weight: 2.4 t
Length: 6, 35 m
Diameter: 0.95 m
Barney Wellis did not become a famous aircraft designer: his Victory bomber project was rejected by the British military. But he became famous as the creator of the most powerful ammunition of the Second World War. Knowledge of the laws of aerodynamics allowed him to design the Tallboy aerial bomb in 1942. Thanks to its perfect aerodynamic shape, the bomb quickly picked up speed and even overcame the sound barrier in the fall if it was dropped from a height of more than 4 km. It could penetrate 3 m of reinforced concrete, go deeper into the ground by 35 m, and after its explosion, a funnel with a diameter of 40 m remained. ships. So, two hits first damaged the German battleship "Tirpitz", which defended in the Norwegian fjord and posed a great danger to convoys sailing to the USSR. On November 12, 1944, having received two more Tallboys, the ship capsized. In a word, these bombs were a real military weapon, and not a useless race for records, and during the war they were used not so little - 854.
This success guaranteed Barney Wallis a place in history (he later received a knighthood) and inspired him to create in 1943 the most powerful bomb of the Second World War, in the design of which much was borrowed from Tallboy. The Grand Slam was also successful, demonstrating stable (due to the rotation imparted by the stabilizers) flight and high penetration: before bursting, it could penetrate up to 7 m of reinforced concrete. True, for the Grand Slam there was no such target as the world-famous battleship, but its hits in shelters for German submarines protected by a five-meter layer of concrete made a proper impression. She also smashed aqueducts and dams that did not succumb to less powerful bombs. The Grand Slam detonator could be set for instant action (to hit targets with a shock wave) or to slow down (to destroy shelters), but in the latter case, the buildings "folded" hundreds of meters away from the explosion: although the shock wave from buried detonation was relatively weak, vibrations ground shifted foundations. Officially, the Grand Slam was called more than modestly - "Medium Capacity, 22,000 lbs" - "average power, 22,000 pounds" (meaning the average value of the ratio of the weight of the bomb and its equipment), although in the press it received the nickname "Earthquake Bomb" ("bomb -earthquake"). The Grand Slam entered service with the RAF at the end of the war, and in the months remaining before victory, British pilots dropped 42 such bombs. It was quite expensive, so if the target could not be detected, the command strongly advised the crews not to drop the Grand Slam over the sea, but to land with it, although it was risky. In the RAF, the huge bombs were carried by the four-engine Halifax and Lancaster. Copies of the "Grand Slam" were also made in the USA.
The very first guided aerial bomb: Fritz-X
Country: Germany
Designed: 1943
Weight: 1, 362 t
Explosive weight: 320 kg, ammatol
Length: 3.32 m
Plumage span: 0, 84 m
The Fritz-X was the first combat model of a guided weapon. Its guidance system FuG 203/230 operated at a frequency of about 49 MHz, and after being dropped, the aircraft had to maintain a course so that the operator could track the target and the bomb. With a deviation of up to 350 m along the course and 500 m in range, the flight of the bomb could be adjusted. The non-maneuvering carrier is vulnerable to fighters and anti-aircraft fire, but the distance served as protection: the recommended drop distance, like the altitude, was 5 km.
The Allies hastily developed jamming equipment, the Germans increased the release of bombs, and who knows how this race would have ended if it had not been for the end of the war …
The very first serial nuclear weapon: Mk-17/24
Country: USA
Start of production: 1954
Weight: 10, 1 t
Energy release: 10-15 Mt
Length: 7, 52 m
Diameter: 1.56 m
These thermonuclear bombs (Mk-17 and Mk-24 differed only in the types of plutonium "fuses") - the first that can be classified as a real weapon: the US Air Force B-36 bombers flew out on patrol with them. The design was not very reliable (part of the "fuse" was kept by the crew, who installed it in the bomb before dropping), but everything was subordinated to one goal: to "squeeze out" the maximum energy release (there were no units regulating the power of the explosion). Despite the slowdown in the fall of the bomb with a 20-meter parachute, the not-too-high-speed B-36 barely had time to leave the affected area. Production (Mk-17 - 200 units, Mk-24 - 105 units) lasted from July 1954 to November 1955. Their "simplified" copies were also tested in order to find out whether it is possible to use lithium hydrides that have not undergone isotopic enrichment as a substitute for thermonuclear fuel in a nuclear war. Since October 1956, the Mk-17/24 bombs began to be transferred to the reserve, they were replaced by the more advanced Mk-36.
The most powerful weapon in history: An-602
Country: USSR
Tested: 1961
Weight: 26.5 t
Energy release: 58 Mt
Length: 8.0 m
Diameter: 2.1m
After the explosion of this bomb on Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961, the shock wave circled the globe three times, and a lot of glass was broken in Norway. The bomb was not suitable for combat use and did not represent a major scientific achievement, but it probably helped the superpowers sense the dead end of the nuclear race.
Most versatile bomb: JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition)
Country: USA
Start of production: 1997
Range of application: 28 km
Circular Probable Deviation: 11 m
Set cost: $ 30-70 thousand
JDAM is not exactly a bomb, but a set of navigation equipment and controlled empennage, which allows you to turn almost any conventional bomb into a controlled one. Such a bomb is guided by GPS signals, which makes the guidance independent of weather conditions. For the first time JDAM was used during the bombing of Yugoslavia. Since 1997, Boeing has produced over 2,000 JDAM kits.
Most powerful bomb of WWI: RAF 1600 lbs
Country: UK
Start of production: 1918
Weight: 747 kg
Explosive weight: 410 kg
Length: 2.6m
Stabilizer span: 0.9 m
Designed for the HP-15 bomber (it was first called "strategic" and could lift up to 3, 3 tons). Three HP-15s were received by the Royal Air Force in June 1918. Their single sorties made the Germans nervous, but the planned "massive raid on the Ruhr" was thwarted by the end of the First World War.
The very first volumetric explosion bombs: BLU-72B / 76B
Country: USA
Start of production: 1967
Weight: 1, 18 t
Fuel weight: 0.48 t
Shock energy: equivalent to 9 t TNT
The first volume-detonating bombs used in combat (in Vietnam). The fuel in BLU 72B is liquefied propane, in BLU 76B, which was used from high-speed carriers, it is ethylene oxide. Volumetric detonation did not provide a blasting effect, but it turned out to be effective for hitting manpower.
Most massive nuclear bomb: B-61
Country: USA
Start of production: 1962
Weight: 300-340 kg
Energy release: tactical - 0, 3–170 kt; strategic - 10-340 kt
Length: 3.58 m
Diameter: 0.33 m
In 11 modifications of this most massive bomb there are charges of switchable power: pure fission and thermonuclear. "Penetrating" products are weighted with "dump" uranium, powerful ones are equipped with parachutes and are triggered even after hitting the corner of a building at a transonic speed. Since 1962, 3,155 have been produced.
Most powerful mass-produced non-nuclear bomb: GBU-43 MOAB
Country: USA
Designed: 2002
Weight: 9.5 t
Explosive weight: 8, 4 t
Length: 9, 17 m
Diameter: 1.02 m
She took away the crown of the "greatest bomb" from BLU-82, but, unlike the ex-queen, who was actively used in clearing landing sites, she has not yet found use. More powerful equipment (hexogen, TNT, aluminum) and guidance system, it would seem, increase combat capabilities, but finding a suitable target for a product of this value causes serious difficulties. The official name MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) is often unofficially deciphered as Mother Of All Bombs, "the mother of all bombs."
The very first cluster munition: SD2 Schmetterling
Country: Germany
Start of production: 1939
Weight: 2 kg
Explosive weight: 225 g
Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 4 cm
Manpower damage radius: 25 m
Pioneers of cluster munitions, battle-tested in Europe and North Africa. The Luftwaffe used cassettes containing from 6 to 108 SD2 bombs (Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg), which were equipped with fuses of various types: instant and delayed action, as well as "surprises" for sappers. Due to the method of dispersing submunitions, reminiscent of the flutter of a butterfly, the bomb was named Schmetterling ("butterfly").
