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Modern Ordnance Challenge Question

US-Subs

ORDNANCE APPROVED/Premium Member
Ordnance approved
Premium Member
Here is a tough one, but a couple of you should know it, maybe more. Identify the item in the photo. I'll give you this much, it is a component piece, it is US.

I'll be up early to see who's close.
 

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Looks a bit like a British incendiary bomb fin unit, but were these used by the US?
Oh dear, just noticed the word modern, some sort of shaped charge?
Absolutely no idea !
Good game what's the answer?
Cheers,
navyman.
 
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Vote from England

I thought I'd vote for the rocket propellent idea (burning surfaces stuff)but then changed my mind towards wave shaping and am now inclined towards the intermediate exploder. I know didly squat about US bombs but I reckon its for one of the Bomb, Very Loud, Mark 1 variety and because its blue (forget all that NATO colour coding rubbish) it must be Navy.
 
Well I don't know what it is. But blue is the color of modern practice ammunition. Not always inert but practice for sure.
 
Guess just from viewing photo without knowing measurements, is a component from a Multi-Linear Shaped Charge Bomb?
 
u.s. Bomb, 4-pound, incendiary, an-m50 series, & m126


wrong! eeeeeenh!
 
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The AN-M50A3 incendiary bomb. It is hexagonal in cross section and measures 1 5/8 inches across opposite faces of the hexagon. It is used in M32 incendiary bomb clusters

wrong! eeeeeenh!
 
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Got it!
burster charge for a weteye mk116 cemical bomb

BOMB, CHEMICAL, MK116 MOD O (WETEYE)
CHEMICAL AGENT: GB; (1325-E382)
The MKl16 MOD O is a high agent-~weight ratio bomb filled with 347.0 pounds of nonpersistent chemical agent (GB).
This bomb is fuzed with a mechanical time fuze and has four MK5 MOD O bursters which upon impact explosively disseminates the chemical agent.​
 
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Got to be very rare

SIDE BAR
In 1969 the entire arsenal of U.S. Weteye bombs were stored at the Rockey mountain arsenal in Colorado. Nearly all Weteye bombs stored at Rocky Mountain Arsenal were demilitarized and destroyed in 1977; however, approximately 900 Weteye bombs were not destroyed at this time.

Wonder where they are?
 
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Well done guys, I'm happily surprised! As something that very few people have an opportunity to ever see, for two people to ID it so quickly is very good. Ordman has it, though he was actually beaten by a couple of hours in a PM sent by Spotter.

It is in fact a section of the burster tube from the MK116 Weteye Bomb, designed to be filled with GB nerve agent. I've put the original photo back up, plus a blow-up of the stencilled markings. (photo 1&2)

It is a multi-linear shaped charge as noted by several, and BombsAway was pretty close with his guess of a BLU-85 (photo 3). Here are a couple pictures of the bomb as well. (photo 4&5)

In response to Ordman's parting question about the Weteye Bombs that remained after Rocky Mountain was closed - "Wonder where they are?", the remaining bombs were transferred to the US's largest CW storage depot in another of the Rocky Mountain States. They were declared to the OPCW under the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997, and have since then been monitored and destroyed under the terms of the treaty, verified by the constant presence of OPCW inspection teams. With allowed exceptions (empty training examples and displays may be kept), they no longer exist.

Well done to all - we'll do it again another time. JO
 

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Thank for making my day
really had to put the thinking cap on
Spotter did tip me off to the stenciling
I spent way to much time trying to enhance the image
I needed to know what it was a component of and how it was used.

side bar
Weteyes were moved to the south area of the Tooele Army Depot which became known as the Deseret Chemical Depot.
In 1996, the Deseret Chemical Depot began destruction operations of general chemical weapons. In the spring of 2001 destruction and demilitarization of the Weteyes began and the operation ended in December 2001 with the destruction of the last of 888 Weteyes.

thanks again to Spotter and you.
Made a rather boring ( and snowy) Friday enjoyable

 
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