Air and ground launched cluster submunitions

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How does the submunition on the British BL.755 cluster bomb compare to the M77 and M85 DPICM on the MLRS and the M74 APAM on the ATACMS.

Would the BL.755 submunition have been suitable for use on a ground launched SSM to make an British MLRS/TACMS?
 
According to 'British Secret Projects: Hypersonics, Ramjets and Missiles'

'Back in 1966 Hawker Siddeley Dynamics had proposed the Cluster Martel. This mated the AJ.168 TV Martel airframe with many of the components of Hunting's BL.755. To allow ejection of the bomblets at the appropriate altitude, the radar fuse from the WE.177 nuclear bomb was to be used. However, the Air Staff considered this a complete waste of time and effort for what was basically a powered cluster bomb and so BL.755 entered service as a free fall bomb'

The Skomer website lists a range of 37.3 miles for the Cluster Martel.

If this had been proceeded with, any guestimates as to how accurate that could have been given no GPS although if you are using the TV versions airframe presumably you could be quite accurate as long as the weather is not too bad?
 
From the aircrew perspective, a powered cluster bomb, just the thing to kill SAMs with; or things protected by SAMs! There's the difference twix those who wear flightsuits and those who wear Class A blues...what's a waste of time to them keeps my (then) young pink body out of harm's way! With the TV, accuracy (wx permitting) should be adequate with the area effect of the cluster bomb's footprint.

Dave
 
Just bumping this up in case anyone had an answer to my first post....
 
sferrin said:
That last one is the most Frankensteinian thing I've seen it some time.
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Damn devilish idea, I seem to remember reading that the Spams were researching/testing Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb

saab.com

Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb | Saab

Developed in partnership with Boeing, our GLSDB is exceptionally flexible, highly effective and accurate over long distances.
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They are but it's that LGB nose added to the mix, and wrap-around fins, that really made this other one look weird.
 
The U.S is very sensitive to civilian loses, some of with has been blamed on these
munitions. This is why I think they are looking for something to replace them.
 
muttly said:
The U.S is very sensitive to civilian loses, some of with has been blamed on these
munitions. This is why I think they are looking for something to replace them.
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I have read that they also have a very high failure rate and have proved much less effective against military targets than once thought.
 
I think they have to be used in high concentrations against large target masses to be effective.
 
Forest Green said:
I think they have to be used in high concentrations against large target masses to be effective.
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They do, but that also makes a high dud rate even more egregious. A single CBU-100 drops 247 bomblets. You can expect roughly 10 of those to fail to detonate at the lower end, per bomb dropped. The claimed dud rate of Russian equivalents is over 40%(!)...
 
Forest Green said:
Watch on full screen around the mast(?) in the foreground just before the large explosion.
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Did finally see them, but I'm still thinking those were something like SADARM skeets. There were only like 8 pops, which isn't consistent with the submunition count of DPICM (some 65 individual subs per shell). So unless the subs mostly landed in the trees, I'm still not sold on it being DPICM. Feels more like a CBU-97 or -105 SFW strike.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Did finally see them, but I'm still thinking those were something like SADARM skeets. There were only like 8 pops, which isn't consistent with the submunition count of DPICM (some 65 individual subs per shell). So unless the subs mostly landed in the trees, I'm still not sold on it being DPICM. Feels more like a CBU-97 or -105 SFW strike.
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SADARM is guided and there is only 2 to a round but it is a strange pattern for DPICM but there is more than one variant of DPICM I think. There's a lot more than 7, I'll try highlight all the strike areas to watch for.

1692022101922.png

I think there may be some landing in the trees too. Maybe these are the inner and outer circles with the trees hiding most of the strikes.

1692022275779.png
 

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