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Blu-101/b
- Thread starter stecol
- Start date
Here is what I have found so far.
The BLU-101/B ERAM (Extended-Range Anti-Armour Mine) was the submunition of the CBU-92/B Extended-Range Anti-Armor Munition. It was developed under the USAF's WAAM (Wide-Area Anti-Armour Munitions) program (which also included the AGM-124 Wasp missile and the CBU-90/B Anti-Armour Cluster Munition) during the 1980s. After release from the dispenser, the BLU-101/B descended under a parachute until it came to rest on the ground, stabilized by four legs. The sensor system consisted of three probes with seismic and acoustic detectors, which could locate and track the movements of tanks and other vehicles within a range of about 150 m (500 ft). The system was supposed to be able to tell tanks from other types of vehicles. When a tank came close enough, the BLU-101/B fired one of its two Skeet projectiles (see BLU-108/B section for details about Skeet) upwards and outwards in the direction of the tank. The Skeet's own infrared sensor would then trigger the firing of an EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator) downwards to destroy the target's top arnour. The ERAM program was terminated in 1987 due to high cost and changed requirements, but the Skeet was eventually produced in large numbers for the BLU-108/B submunition.
The BLU-101/B was to be used as payload in the following cluster bombs:
From :http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/asetds/u-b.html
The BLU-101/B ERAM (Extended-Range Anti-Armour Mine) was the submunition of the CBU-92/B Extended-Range Anti-Armor Munition. It was developed under the USAF's WAAM (Wide-Area Anti-Armour Munitions) program (which also included the AGM-124 Wasp missile and the CBU-90/B Anti-Armour Cluster Munition) during the 1980s. After release from the dispenser, the BLU-101/B descended under a parachute until it came to rest on the ground, stabilized by four legs. The sensor system consisted of three probes with seismic and acoustic detectors, which could locate and track the movements of tanks and other vehicles within a range of about 150 m (500 ft). The system was supposed to be able to tell tanks from other types of vehicles. When a tank came close enough, the BLU-101/B fired one of its two Skeet projectiles (see BLU-108/B section for details about Skeet) upwards and outwards in the direction of the tank. The Skeet's own infrared sensor would then trigger the firing of an EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator) downwards to destroy the target's top arnour. The ERAM program was terminated in 1987 due to high cost and changed requirements, but the Skeet was eventually produced in large numbers for the BLU-108/B submunition.
The BLU-101/B was to be used as payload in the following cluster bombs:
- CBU-92/B (9 BLU-101/B and 3 unknown area-denial submunitions in SUU-65/B)
From :http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/asetds/u-b.html
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Here is info about the Hornet, which was a hand placed version of the BLU 101:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m93.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m93.htm
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Chris 42 RQ
Well-Known Member
You are welcome! It took me a while to weasel (no pun intended) through all the "used in, carried by, was part of, etc." crap to finally get to the hornet, which was the device I saw in the development news about 10 or 15 years ago. The U.S. has been screwing around with overhead downlooking submunitions to kill armor for years, either through the artillery carried SADARM, this hornet (either ground based or air delivered, or the Sensor fuzed weapon. I think the 155MM SADARM might still be active, and the Sensor Fuzed Weapon is still going strong.