chilean_mirage_freak
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Hello everyone, this is my first post here. As my username suggests, I am indeed from Chile and during the past years i've had an extremely niche interest to trace the origins of our cluster bomb industry which had its peak in the 1980's. Perhaps the most famous name that comes up is that of Industrias Cardoen (INCAR) notable for selling cluster bombs to Iraq before their conflict with Iran and to many developing countries in africa and the middle east throughout the late 20th century. During the heyday of Chilean cluster bomb production, a rival company emerged; Industrias Ferrimar Ltda, which had strong ties with FAMAE (factories and workshops of the Chilean army) as well as the feared CNI (national intelligence service during the dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet) with what concerned arms sales and negotations. Ferrimar as a company was founded by two brothers, Guido and Aldo Pesce, as a company initially dedicated to making steel ship hulls in Valparaíso. This part is still unclear, as very little is known about the company but apparently the Chilean government searched for a private manufacturer that could make aircraft cluster bombs to compete with those of Cardoen, that were gaining popularity in arms markets around the early to mid 80's.
The company itself developed a family of cluster bombs, called "WASPS" whose nomenclature was "WB-xx-F" (xx is a placeholder for numbers) and comprised the WB-130-F (130 lbs) cluster bomb, the WB-250-F (250 lbs), WB-500-F which was their most famous bomb out of the family, the WB-1500-F (1500 lbs) and WB-2250-F (2250 lbs). The interesting part of these last two is that virtually no known photos exist. So if anybody could help me find pictures of the WB-1500-F and WB-2250-F bombs i would thank you enormously.
It is unclear if these bombs were even built, they might have simply remained prototypes as no known user of these bombs exists, in particular because Ferrimar as a company went bankrupt around 1990, majorly due to an attempt to sell the WASPS bombs to Iran, that ended almost horribly during a trial launch at Tehran in 1986, in which the bombs, mounted on an IRIAF F-4 Phantom, exploded prematurely, heavily damaging the aircraft and forcing the two operators to eject. This caused an internal scandal at Ferrimar which ended up in them paying millions of dollars in damage repairs as well as bribery in order to avoid getting the Chilean technicians as well as arms merchants imprisoned. More of this is detailed in the book "La Manipulation Kerbala" by the late Bernard Stroiazzo-Mougin, who was a key member in the negotiation. Anyway, along with poor sales, Ferrimar ceased to exist at an unknown point but most probably in 1990. I will add some images including the info present on the Jane's 1997 Air Launched Weapons, as well as images from personal sources.
"Training" WB-500-F WASPS cluster bomb.
source: Ferrimar International A.G
Mirage 50C of the chilean air force equipped with the training variant of the WB-500-F.
Source: Ferrimar International A.G
Commercial image of a WB-500-F
Source: Ferrimar Manual for WB-500-F (personal collection)
The little known information concerning the 1500 and 2250 lb models.
Source: Jane's Air Launched Weapons 1997.
The only (afaik) image on the internet of the WB-130-F cluster bomb.
Source: Ferrimar Manual for WB-500-F (personal collection)
The company itself developed a family of cluster bombs, called "WASPS" whose nomenclature was "WB-xx-F" (xx is a placeholder for numbers) and comprised the WB-130-F (130 lbs) cluster bomb, the WB-250-F (250 lbs), WB-500-F which was their most famous bomb out of the family, the WB-1500-F (1500 lbs) and WB-2250-F (2250 lbs). The interesting part of these last two is that virtually no known photos exist. So if anybody could help me find pictures of the WB-1500-F and WB-2250-F bombs i would thank you enormously.
It is unclear if these bombs were even built, they might have simply remained prototypes as no known user of these bombs exists, in particular because Ferrimar as a company went bankrupt around 1990, majorly due to an attempt to sell the WASPS bombs to Iran, that ended almost horribly during a trial launch at Tehran in 1986, in which the bombs, mounted on an IRIAF F-4 Phantom, exploded prematurely, heavily damaging the aircraft and forcing the two operators to eject. This caused an internal scandal at Ferrimar which ended up in them paying millions of dollars in damage repairs as well as bribery in order to avoid getting the Chilean technicians as well as arms merchants imprisoned. More of this is detailed in the book "La Manipulation Kerbala" by the late Bernard Stroiazzo-Mougin, who was a key member in the negotiation. Anyway, along with poor sales, Ferrimar ceased to exist at an unknown point but most probably in 1990. I will add some images including the info present on the Jane's 1997 Air Launched Weapons, as well as images from personal sources.
"Training" WB-500-F WASPS cluster bomb.source: Ferrimar International A.G
Mirage 50C of the chilean air force equipped with the training variant of the WB-500-F.
Source: Ferrimar International A.G
Commercial image of a WB-500-F
Source: Ferrimar Manual for WB-500-F (personal collection)
The little known information concerning the 1500 and 2250 lb models.
Source: Jane's Air Launched Weapons 1997.
The only (afaik) image on the internet of the WB-130-F cluster bomb.
Source: Ferrimar Manual for WB-500-F (personal collection)
