The solution of specific tasks - the destruction of the runway, mine with weapons, reinforced concrete walls of the firing point - is possible with the use of concrete-piercing shells and aerial bombs.
Powerful penetrating ammunition in recent years has been increasingly used to combat terrorists hiding in underground shelters.
Divide into parts
A modern concrete-piercing shell consists of several structural elements:
- Body. It is made of high-alloy high-strength steel with a high viscosity index, which ensures its safety upon impact with high energy against an obstacle. The necessary kinematic and dynamic qualities of the projectile are achieved with light of increased body length.
- High precision alloy tip located in front of the ammunition. Forms a penetrating channel in the ground. In some shells, a cumulative block is installed at the tip, which improves the ability of the ammunition to penetrate obstacles.
- Aerodynamic elements. Located on the outside of the body and tip. Provides support for a given course and taxiing when using a managed version.
- The brake parachute compartment is equipped at the rear of the hull. Modern models of shells are equipped with aerodynamic brakes.
- In the back there is a squib, firing parachute, and a jet accelerator unit equipped with an intelligent activation system.
- A programmable moderator fuse is also located at the rear. The retarder operates at the set depth.
- The warhead with the calculated amount of explosive occupies the front of the projectile. An additional block with striking elements often enhances the thermobaric and high-explosive effects of ammunition. The energy of the damaging elements during the explosion is stored in a radius of up to 100 meters from the epicenter.
- Laser guidance system. It is activated only with the simultaneous use of the receiver and the radiation source.
Piercing power
Concrete shells were widely used by Soviet artillerymen during the winter war with Finland. Unsuccessful attempts to break the Mannerheim Line, which entailed loss of personnel, forced the command to decide on the active use of artillery before using infantry and armored vehicles. In the fight against reinforced concrete fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus, the greatest effectiveness was shown by 203-mm concrete-piercing shells B-4.
These howitzers allowed the destruction of hundreds of expensive buildings, for which they received from the Finns the name "Stalin's Sledgehammers".
The success of concrete-piercing shells during the war inspired Soviet engineers and the military to further develop similar ammunition.
The first domestic concrete bomb BetAB-150DS was created on the basis of an artillery 203 mm shell. The weight of its warhead exceeded 100 kilograms, the built-in jet booster accelerated it when approaching the target. The maximum penetration depth of BetAB-150 when it fell into the rock exceeded one and a half meters; after the explosion, a funnel with a diameter of up to two meters was formed.
Increased combat power
The range of bomber aircraft expanded significantly in the post-war period, replenished with solid shells weighing up to five hundred kilograms. Having gone through several stages of modernization, such ammunition is used to this day.
The main purpose of using concrete-piercing shells is the destruction of command posts and protected bunkers of terrorists, communications and underground militant depots.
Unlike armor-piercing and fragmentation shells, concrete-piercing shells have a high-strength body with reinforced walls. Ammunition must enter the reinforced concrete structure at high speed and at right angles. The fuse is triggered with a set delay.
The shell ruptures either inside the structure or in the concrete mass. For this reason, powerful large-caliber guns are used in artillery in order to destroy high-strength concrete structures.
At the disposal of the Russian aviation forces there are several types of concrete-piercing shells - with a jet accelerator and free-falling ones.
Types of concrete ammunition of the Russian Aerospace Forces: BetAB-500
Almost all models of modern attack aircraft are capable of carrying a simple BetAB-500. Its discharge is carried out from a height of several thousand meters to gain high-speed ammunition and obtain kinetic energy sufficient to break through a reinforced concrete barrier. A bomb weighing 500 kilograms easily passes concrete floors with a thickness of a meter or goes to a soil depth of up to three meters.
BetAB-500ShP version
BetAB-500ShP - one of its modifications - is equipped with a stabilizing parachute and a jet engine, which gives additional acceleration at the surface of the earth. The principle of operation of the concrete-piercing projectile, as well as the penetration ability, are similar to the basic version of the ammunition, but the modified design allows it to be dropped from small heights. Projectile accuracy is also enhanced.
The design of the modern ammunition in the arsenal of the Russian Aerospace Forces — the RBK-500U concrete-cluster cluster projectile — includes nine elements. Often used to destroy large areas.
Concrete shells used in the KV-2 are aimed at the destruction of runways, highways and aerodrome tracks; their small ammunition scatters a distance of several tens of meters.
U.S. Concrete Weapons
The US military also uses concrete weapons in its operations. The most common guided bomb, GBU-28, was created specifically for the operation in the Persian Gulf, Operation Desert Storm. The reason for the development was the lack of ammunition capacity to destroy command posts and government bunkers of the Iraqi army.
The hulls of the first versions of the GBU-28 were borrowed from 203-mm artillery guns due to lack of time for developing weapons.
According to the results of the tests, the bomb, stuffed with three hundred kilograms of explosive and having a mass of two tons, pierced reinforced concrete floors up to six meters thick. Laser guidance allowed to increase the accuracy of the impact.
F-111 bombers were used to carry and dump hastily made shells by the Americans.
Less impressive destructive power was in the BLU-109 / B. The mass of the bomb is a little less than a ton, the penetration capacity is overlap up to two meters thick. The advantage of the projectile was the presence of intelligent guidance systems Paveway III and JDAM.
The development of concrete weapons is actively engaged in other countries. For example, the Israeli Air Force has an airborne MRP-500 with an adjustable direction, the French pilots are armed with penetrating BLU-107 Durandal.
Cassette Concrete Shells
Cluster munitions are considered a separate class of concrete bombs; they are used to destroy the aerodrome runways. In 2002, the domestic arsenal of weapons was replenished with RBC-500U - the first cluster munitions.
The clip of such a bomb includes ten concrete-breaking elements thrown over the target. Their rupture leads to damage to the coverage of the runway of airfields over a huge area.
Concrete bombs, adopted by the USA, are much more efficient and powerful than domestic concrete bombs G-530 and others for several reasons:
- The use of ammunition of this type in combat conditions showed low efficiency: local damage to the cover of the runways was repaired in a short time by the airfield maintenance repair team.
- The simultaneous damage to a large area of the strip with the surface destruction of the concrete layer requires a lot of effort from the repair crews to restore the minimum operational suitability of the runway.
- Most of the tactical and technical characteristics, technical documentation and instructions aimed at maintaining the ammunition in an operational state, are under the stamp classified.
Conclusion
The dynamically developing geopolitical situation requires the use of effective weapons from the armed forces of different countries. The concrete-piercing shells used in the last century on the SU-152 still remain a weighty argument in the conduct of hostilities, both in traditional ways, and in anti-terrorist and counter-guerrilla operations. In the near future, it is expected to develop innovative weapons and modernize the existing arsenal.