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Any idea what SAP means?The Germans described these bombs as 'Panzerbombe SAP', the Tallboy being 'Panzerbombe SAP 5400Kg'
Cheers
Steve
Any idea what SAP means?
if this is an 'air burst' weapon, similar, in principle at least, to the WW2 'cookie' or 'blockbuster', why use it to try to knock out underground positions ?
I'm still slightly puzzled - if this is an 'air burst' weapon, similar, in principle at least, to the WW2 'cookie' or 'blockbuster', why use it to try to knock out underground positions ?
OK, there'd be some damage, but the whole idea of an air-burst weapon is to have maximum blast and shock-wave effect above ground, for example, to flatten structures and / or eliminate surface forces and equipment.
Of course, it may have been fused to detonate after entering the surface.
I know the "afterbody" or tail section was mostly hollow but I've never seen a diagram of how far into the tail-secton the rear of the bomb extends nor the actual shape (rounded?) of the rear of the actual bomb body. What does your diagarm show? Curious. Thanks.Semi Armour Piercing, which would appear to be English, but I have a diagram, made by the Germans in July 1944, of a Tallboy and the title is, exactly as written
Brit. Panzerbombe SAP 12000 LB 5400 Kg
Bold original.
The diagram is extremely accurate, including internal detail, so the Germans must have dismantled an unexploded Tallboy. The German measurements are metric but transpose exactly to the British imperial measurements. They identify the structure of the bomb, from the fuses used to the tension locks to attach the tail (Spannschloss fur Leitwerk) in better detail than I've seen in any British drawing! Externally the diagram even notes the coloured ring with the explosive type stencil (grun), the smaller red ring nearer the nose, the screwed on steel tip (aufgeschraubte Stahlspitze) the body of the bomb as painted green (anstrich grun) and the tail section as riveted aluminium (Leitwerk-Aluminium genietet).
It makes a fine modellers reference
Cheers
Steve
I got my info from a CNN article. It was obviously FAKE NEWS! OMG!Check out my post #21. The US MOAB is NOT a fuel-air or thermobaric weapon however the presence of the powdered aluminium does mimic, to a degree, the sustained explosion of a thermobaric/fuel-air explosion. The extensive blast radius also mimics the oxygen deprivation of a thermobaric.
I believe that the US shied away from a thermobaric/fuel-air due to a report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency:
The kill mechanism against living targets is unique–and unpleasant.... What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs.... If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as most chemical agents.
If it's such a good plan, why hasn't it been done before?
Steve
Interesting topic but isn't the C-130 or such a large plane a good target for the enemy now ?