British Ordnance Collectors Network
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Picture of 1941 with bombs
- Thread starter kz11gr
- Start date
It looks like a Russian RRAB-series Cluster Container (WW2 vintage). It's difficult to guess the dimensions, but it looks as though it's the biggest of the series - the RRAB-1, which had a length of 112.5 inches (285.75 cm) amd a diameter of 28.5 inches (72.4 cm). The container had four large folding paddle-like fins which flipped out on release from the aircraft, causing the container to spin. The centrifugal force induced caused two bands holding the body closed, to shear, allowing the two body halves to open and the submunition contents to be dispersed. It's also difficult to tell which submunitions are shown , but they look like AOKh-15 Fragmentation/Chemical types of which the RRAB-1 carried 40. The AOKh-15 was a converted French 107mm artillery projectile filled with roughly 2.5 lb (1 kg) each of TNT and a Chemical agent. The submunition was nose fuzed with either a type AM-A, AGM-1 or AV-4 impact fuze.
Nice photo, now to separate the wheat from the chaff....
The submunition is definitely Russian, the dispenser is easy and has been correctly identified as one of the RRAB series, I've attached a photo from a 1940s magazine article.
The submunitions are much more difficult as they are not shown clearly. What you can see is the vanes of an AM-A type fuze and the box fins.
There are no box fins that I can reference for a nose fuzed submunition under 10kg. The early PTAB 2.5kg has a circular box fin, but was tail fuzed.
The shape of the fin and the distance from the munition body is fairly clear, and cannot be the one shown by Harry, the distance between fin and body is wrong.
Regarding the AOKh-15, there are several conflicting sources of information on this submunition, but it is suggested to be "partially" made from an artillery projectile, though from its internal construction and appearance that seems difficult to conceive. The main identification feature disproving the AOKh-15 though, is that the fins are a circular box, with fin blades extending beyond the box. See 2nd and 3rd photos.
The square nature of the fins, the length of the fins, with the proximity to the body would strongly suggest the early version of the AO-10 with the AM-A type fuze. 4th photo.
Identification of Russian Submunitions can be very difficult, there are dozens of models, dozens more variations and precious few reliable source documents. Physical examples are very hard to find to photograph.
One of the best references I've found that includes early Russian submunitions was published in 2001, by Piriev and Resnichenko, called Bombarding Armament for Russian Aviation, 1912-1945. Its in Russian, but over 700 pages with hundreds of line drawings and numerous period photos (photos are poor quality). It is an excellent resource, but hard to find. I got mine in an old bookshop in Moscow, good luck in finding yours.
The submunition is definitely Russian, the dispenser is easy and has been correctly identified as one of the RRAB series, I've attached a photo from a 1940s magazine article.
The submunitions are much more difficult as they are not shown clearly. What you can see is the vanes of an AM-A type fuze and the box fins.
There are no box fins that I can reference for a nose fuzed submunition under 10kg. The early PTAB 2.5kg has a circular box fin, but was tail fuzed.
The shape of the fin and the distance from the munition body is fairly clear, and cannot be the one shown by Harry, the distance between fin and body is wrong.
Regarding the AOKh-15, there are several conflicting sources of information on this submunition, but it is suggested to be "partially" made from an artillery projectile, though from its internal construction and appearance that seems difficult to conceive. The main identification feature disproving the AOKh-15 though, is that the fins are a circular box, with fin blades extending beyond the box. See 2nd and 3rd photos.
The square nature of the fins, the length of the fins, with the proximity to the body would strongly suggest the early version of the AO-10 with the AM-A type fuze. 4th photo.
Identification of Russian Submunitions can be very difficult, there are dozens of models, dozens more variations and precious few reliable source documents. Physical examples are very hard to find to photograph.
One of the best references I've found that includes early Russian submunitions was published in 2001, by Piriev and Resnichenko, called Bombarding Armament for Russian Aviation, 1912-1945. Its in Russian, but over 700 pages with hundreds of line drawings and numerous period photos (photos are poor quality). It is an excellent resource, but hard to find. I got mine in an old bookshop in Moscow, good luck in finding yours.
