What's new
British Ordnance Collectors Network

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Gladeye Dispenser System

D

Dragontooth

Guest
It's been a long time since I was here.
From what I have found on the web the Gladeye was known as Mk17 when complete. It was a 1960s US dispenser which could carry Lazy Dog steel bits, leaflets and napalm canisters. According to Norman Friedman (author of US Naval Weapons) the Gladeye Mk17 could carry 330 M40 submunitions. There are hints that Gladeye may have been a BW system but I could find no evidence for this.

If would be thankful for any help or information.
http://www.chinalakealumni.org/1962/1962mo.htm#thumb

http://www.a4skyhawk.org/sites/a4sk...eye-mk17bw submunitions_atwell_mod1-18a_0.jpg

Sources: China Lake and A4 Skyhawk

I can recommend the above sites. They have awesome pictures.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The photo referenced in your first hyperlink is incorrectly marked. The dispenser section that is described as carrying napalm is filled with butterfly bombs, not napalm.

The second hyperlink you list says "Page not found"
 
Leaflets are considered propaganda like "We are going to bomb this area tomorrow, so you better surrender or leave. Hold this leaflet above your head and carry it when you surrender to us."


Sent from my NSA/FBI tapped iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Does someone have more detialed info about the Gladeye? You know tech. specs, fuzing, dimensions, etc.?
what was the designation of the leaflets?

thanks a lot
 
if the enemy still has a chance to surrender. hehe.

Leaflets are considered propaganda like "We are going to bomb this area tomorrow, so you better surrender or leave. Hold this leaflet above your head and carry it when you surrender to us."


Sent from my NSA/FBI tapped iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The dispensers are designed so the compartments can be filled with whatever you want to say. There is no fuze. If you look at the photos on the China Lake web site, you can see the cargo being dropped from the dispenser while it is attached to the wing.


Sent from my NSA/FBI tapped iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tech sheets would be great for exact data if possible.
 
interesting, I have not seen this delivery system for the M83 - I too would like to know more about Gladeye
thanks for posting

regards Kev
 
I found this thread recently, searching info about Gladeye dispenser. Most my information is from China Lake Alumni website. There’s even an „Download and Video” page http://www.chinalakealumni.org/Download.htm and, on this page, link to document entitled „Gladeye”. Unfortunately I can’t download it (as a most documents from this page – maybe they are removed for any reason?).

The dispenser section that is described as carrying napalm is filled with butterfly bombs, not napalm.

Thank you HAZORD, you are right! There are clearly M83 Butterfly Bombs. I saw this photo long time ago, when I searching info about Lazy Dog, so I don’t pay much attention to other canister. According to bomblet length there was probably two layers of 10 bombs each in canister. As the Gladeye dispenser contain 7 such canister, a total number of bomblets was probably 140.

An idea to drop M83s from Gladeye looks interesting. Maybe it would be possible to set their time fuzes for airburst? AFAIK in drop-type cluster bombs like M29 it wasn’t allowed for not enough accurate timing of cluster opened fuze (bomblets could exploded too high).

A picture of napalm bomb for Gladeye is also on China Lake Alumni webpage. Napalm bomb has a dimensions of whole canister, so Gladeye could contain 7 of them.

Lazy Dog bombardment was a part of China Lake weapons show for US President J.F.Kennedy in July 1963. Two A-4 Skyhawks each with two Gladeyes attack a target – mock-up troop column on the road. In such configuration Gladeye contain 35.000 Lazy Dogs of .41 diameter (that means 5000 in each container).

According to Norman Friedman (author of US Naval Weapons) the Gladeye Mk17 could carry 330 M40 submunitions.

I think it’s a little mistake. Firstly, 330 not divided by 7 :tinysmile_shy_t: so maybe It would be 350? Secondly, M40 grenades were quite small. I don’t know exact dimensions of Gladeye, but a SUU-30 cluster – slightly shorter probably but with a little greater diameter – could contain 2025 such grenades. So I think there was probably 330 bomblets in each canister and 2310 in whole Gladeye dispenser.
 
Top