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34-475: The High Speed Low Drag ( HSLD ) bomb is a family of new generation short range air-dropped precision-guided munition that is currently being developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This general-purpose bomb is made for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and can be used against the destruction of strategic high value enemy infrastructure from stand-off distances. HSLD

68-507: A Request for Proposal (RFP) was floated by the Ministry of Defence for the upgrade of 24 MiG-29s, to integrate HSLD Mk 2 bombs/missiles with a range of 180 km. These upgrade will include addition of additional hardware ( bomb racks on external hardpoints ) as well as necessary software on to the aircraft. The project shall be overseen by No. 11 Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the IAF. Subsequently,

102-425: A glide bomb ), instant-detonation bombs, or delay-action bombs . As with other types of explosive weapons , aerial bombs aim to kill and injure people or to destroy materiel through the projection of one or more of blast, fragmentation, radiation or fire outwards from the point of detonation. The first bombs delivered to their targets by air were single bombs carried on unmanned hot air balloons , launched by

136-399: A panic button to release all of the weapons. A rotary launcher is a rotating suspension equipment mounted inside the bomb bay. Rotary launchers have stations of their own and offer the ability to select certain stores within the bomb bay for release. Advantages include the selection ability for different weapons and easier loading for the ground crew. The disadvantage of a rotary launcher

170-429: A battle. The principal reason for the change is to use stealth technology to make aircraft more difficult to detect on radar. Military fighters are now designed to have the smallest possible radar cross-section , which has decreased very substantially since attention was paid to this feature. Large racks of missiles and bombs hanging below the wings return very distinct radar signatures which can be eliminated by bringing

204-502: A controlled explosion, in some cases requiring evacuation of thousands of people beforehand, see World War II bomb disposal in Europe . Old bombs occasionally detonate when disturbed, or when a faulty time fuze eventually functions, showing that precautions are still essential when dealing with them. Bomb racks Bomb bays were born of necessity. Early military aircraft suffered severe aerodynamic drag (which would further slow down

238-433: A series of carriage as well as carriage release trials (CRT) for High Speed Low Drag 500 kg class unit, with both general purpose and precision guided variant at Pokhran range, Rajasthan . In initial carriage trial, the bomb carried sensors , telemetry and data logger while during the separate CRT session, satellite guidance units were added which flew on Su-30MKI from Jodhpur Air force Station . The bomb touched

272-655: A team from HEMRL and ARDE , the first two HSLD-500s were carefully filled with primary and secondary warhead fillings. As of 2024, DRDO is working on development of Tactical Advance Range Augmentation (TARA) Range Extension Kit (REK) for the HSLD family of bombs. The first REK-equipped HSLD 250 was showcased in March 2024. The REK kit uses a wing and tail unit to glide for a longer distance before hitting its target. The TARA REK will incorporate electro-optical guidance and imaging infrared for enhanced precision. The expected range of

306-419: Is comparable to Mark 80 series of bombs used by United States Air Force (USAF). Between May and June 2017, multiple test were conducted successfully for 450 kg and 500 kg class general purpose bomb (GPB) as well as of precision guided high speed low drag (PGHSLD) munition . The Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune is the primary agency that started developing HSLD with

340-411: Is designed to carry a nose extension unit (NEU) with fixed canard for lift, stability and two different types of smart tail unit (STU) with individual independent fins controlled by a flight control unit (FCU) attached to a telemetry module to cover the whole spectrum of mission profile. The STU features a retarder tail unit (RTU) that is for low-level bombing missions, while a ballistic tail unit (BTU)

374-504: Is for strategic high level bombing . Each HSLD-500 GPB carries 10,300 steel shells of 15 mm diameter. Each shell can target an area of up to 50 m from place of detonation with fragment density of >1 hit/sq m. IAF has already successfully tested PG HSLD 500 from Su-30MKI platform. HSLD can be launched from variety of aircraft that are under IAF inventory like Dassault Mirage 2000 , Mikoyan MiG-29 , SEPECAT Jaguar , Sukhoi Su-30MKI and HAL Tejas . On 7 August 2024, IAF issued

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408-426: The air on a predictable trajectory . Engineers usually develop such bombs to be dropped from an aircraft . The use of aerial bombs is termed aerial bombing . Aerial bombs include a vast range and complexity of designs. These include unguided gravity bombs , guided bombs , bombs hand-tossed from a vehicle , bombs needing a large specially-built delivery-vehicle, bombs integrated with the vehicle itself (such as

442-456: The bombing of Tokyo where possibly 100,000 or more were killed primarily by incendiary bombs. The majority of these incendiary bombs were the 500-pound (230 kg) E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 M-69 oil-based incendiary bombs at an altitude of 2,500 ft (760 m). The end of World War Two was brought about with the aerial, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people and which remain

476-709: The Austrians against Venice in 1849 during the First Italian War of Independence . The first bombs dropped from a heavier-than-air aircraft were grenades or grenade-like devices. Historically, the first use was by Giulio Gavotti on 1 November 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War . In 1912, during the First Balkan War , Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of aircraft to drop "bombs" (called grenades in

510-584: The Bulgarian army at this time) on Turkish positions. Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload. On 16 October 1912, observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karağaç (near the besieged Edirne ) from an Albatros F.2 aircraft piloted by Radul Milkov, for

544-822: The already lumbering bomb-laden aircraft) with bombs hanging from the wings or below the fuselage, so military aviation designers moved the bombs inside the aircraft. Before the introduction of stealth technology bomb bays were mostly used by dedicated bomber aircraft; in fighters and attack airplanes bombs and rockets were hung from the wings or fuselage on pylons . Notable exceptions are the F-101 , F-102 and F-106 interceptor aircraft , all of which had bays used to store missiles, or other weapons stores. Today many designers have moved previously "external" stores into internal multifunction "weapons bays" capable of carrying air-to-air missiles , air-to-ground missiles , drop tanks , and other military "stores" and deploying them rapidly in

578-552: The bomb bays of modern aircraft; the missiles are dropped from the aircraft and then accelerate into autonomous flight while the bomber aircraft "stands off" at a safe distance from the target. There are multiple different bomb bay configurations, which can include: The more traditional, fixed bomb rack , a conventional bomb rack like that of the B-52 would have mounted stores in vertical columns making individual store selection and release impossible without releasing all stores ahead in

612-566: The bomb is 150-180 km when launched at 5 km altitude and a speed of Mach 0.8. The CEP of the kit should be <5 m This plan is included in Innovation for Defence excellence Programme (iDEX) of the Ministry of Defence . There will be 3 variants of REK kit, for HSLD-250, HSLD-450 and HSLD-500 bombs. Two successful developmental trials were conducted in 2013 to prove the capability of the munition with all development related works to be completed by 2014. From 22 May 2017, ARDE and IAF conducted

646-460: The carriage limit of 1041 km/h (0.85 mach ) at 150 metre altitude on Su-30MKI that performed a 6.5 g full roll manoeuvre during the first GPB 500 trial while the PGHSLD 500 separation was carried out from an altitude of 5 km at a speed of 900 km/h (0.73 mach). Both bombs cleared the flight envelope and completed all the required parameters without any form of mechanical damage during

680-500: The column line. The advantage of a conventional bomb rack is a prompt release of all stores in short order. Bombers like the B-52 , the B-1 or the B-2 use custom designed bomb rack support structures with their own designation e.g. Common Bomb Rack (CBR), Common Bomb Module (CBM), or Smart Bomb Rack Assembly (SBRA). These bomb racks may have special store release control mechanisms. Aside from

714-455: The entire fleet will be equipped with this in phases. HSLD Mk II is integrated and deployed on Su-30MKI and SEPECAT Jaguar fleet. The IAF has sought MoD for manufacturing HSLD Mk II in India. Ministry of Defence (MoD) gave green light to start mass production of 500 kg general purpose bomb by Munitions India Limited at Ordnance Factory Khamaria . On 17 January 2022, under the guidance of

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748-460: The few notable aircraft to use semi-recessed bomb bays. Large-sized bombs, which may be nuclear , are dropped from hook-type releases or bomb cradles. When a bomber carries many smaller bombs (e.g. iron bombs , JDAMs ), the bombs are typically loaded onto mechano-electrical devices known as ejector racks , which allow for larger bomb loads to be dropped with greater accuracy. Guided missiles (frequently standoff missiles ) are often carried in

782-491: The first time in this campaign. During the Mexican Revolution , US inventor Lester P. Barlow convinced General Pancho Villa of the insurgent Villista forces to purchace a plane from which were dropped on trains carrying on Mexican Federal troops . All though the bombs were weak, they launched Barlow's career as an explosives inventor. Aerial bombing saw widespread use during World War Two. A precursor

816-498: The help from other DRDO laboratories to upgrade the conventional free fall unguided ordnance used by the Indian Air force (IAF) fighter pilots while Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is the lead production agency. The development started with the aim to replace the older generation imported general purpose bombs that impose huge drag loss on fighter aircraft used by the IAF. The HSLD bomb is specially designed to productively use

850-468: The high speed release from the aircraft. The Su-30MKI was from No. 31 Squadron based in AFS Jodhpur . The trials were conducted with the help of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Air Force Test Pilot School and Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC). Aerial bomb An aerial bomb is a type of explosive or incendiary weapon intended to travel through

884-463: The higher speed of up to Mach 1.1 and wider flight envelope of newer generation NATO and Russian origin as well as Indian made aircraft. High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) developed the conventional type warhead that features blast , fragmentation and shaped charge for bunker buster role which uses Dentex as primary explosive for HSLD 450 and Torpex -4B mixed with RDX that act as explosive booster for HSLD 500. By feeding

918-437: The missiles still hang outside. World War II saw the use of semi-recessed bomb bays which, being an uncommon variation of the fully recessed bomb bay, was a design compromise for aircraft that were intended to carry bombs but did not have sufficient fuselage space for a fully recessed bomb bay; such a design did not allow for the inclusion of bomb bay doors. Breda Ba.88 , Bristol Beaufort and Douglas TBD Devastator were among

952-586: The only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. An example of extensive use of aerial bombs after World War Two is the U.S. aerial bombing during the Vietnam War , where the amount of bombs dropped was more than three times what the USA dropped during World War II in Europe and Asia. Aerial bombs typically use a contact fuze to detonate the bomb upon impact, or a delayed-action fuze initiated by impact. Not all bombs dropped detonate; failures are common. It

986-548: The release options of a rack a pilot can select release mode for releasing one or multiple stores. Stores can be jettisoned selectively in single mode or ripple mode or salvo mode. The term ripple applies to the single- or ripple and single- continuous release mode from one or from mirror stations. Salvo release mode applies to a combination of several stations together e.g. adjacent stations. For multiple store release an interval timer can be set to release stores in fixed time steps. For an external store emergency release there may be

1020-510: The target coordinates, the warhead can be used to effectively destroy runway , railway track , bridge , industrial facility, dock and bunker while able to work in the absence of GNSS input due to satellite jamming. The family of HSLD comes in two versions namely a General Purpose Bomb (GPB) and a Precision Guided High Speed Low Drag (PGHSLD) unit under three different weight class category. The PGHSLD features semi-active laser homing and anti-jamming satellite navigation antenna. It

1054-487: The term coventriert ("coventried") to describe similar levels of destruction of enemy cities. While a single raid of the Coventry Blitz killed almost 600 people, later allied raids using conventional aerial bombs each killed up to tens of thousands of people, with the bombing of Dresden and the bombing of Hamburg as notable examples. The final stages of World War Two saw the most lethal air raid in history ,

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1088-557: The weapons inside the fuselage. This also improves aerodynamic performance and increases the payload which can be carried and the range of the aircraft. Examples of modern U.S. fighters with weapons bays are the F-117 Nighthawk , F-22 Raptor , and F-35 Lightning II . These stealth aircraft such as the Chengdu J-20 use retractable guided missile launchers which move out on rails allowing the weapons bay to be closed while

1122-573: Was estimated that during the Second World War about 10% of German bombs failed to detonate, and that Allied bombs had a failure rate of 15% or 20%, especially if they hit soft soil and used a pistol-type detonating mechanism rather than fuzes. A great many bombs were dropped during the war; thousands of unexploded bombs which may be able to detonate are discovered every year, particularly in Germany, and have to be defused or detonated in

1156-642: Was the 1937 bombing of Guernica by the Nazi German Luftwaffe and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria at the behest of Francisco Franco . The bombs used were a mix of high-explosive bombs and 1 kg (2.2 lb) incendiaries , that Germany would later use also against the UK. As part of The Blitz Nazi-Germany's Coventry Blitz set a benchmark for destruction that caused Joseph Goebbels to later use

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