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45-783: The ASM-A-1 Tarzon , also known as VB-13 , was a guided bomb developed by the United States Army Air Forces during the late 1940s. Mating the guidance system of the earlier Razon radio-controlled weapon with a British Tallboy 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) bomb, the ASM-A-1 saw brief operational service in the Korean War before being withdrawn from service in 1951. Development of the VB-13 Tarzon began in February 1945, with Bell Aircraft being awarded

90-420: A 'safed' bomb would have its arming wire removed, rendering it 'unsafe' and detonating the weapon. Modifications were made to solve the problem, but the damage had been done; the safety issues, increased maintenance costs compared to conventional bombs, the fact that the bomb's guidance system required clear-day use only, rendering the bombers vulnerable to enemy fighters, and required that the weapon be released at

135-478: A Laser JDAM (LJDAM) to provide both types of guidance in a single kit. Based on the existing JDAM configurations, a laser guidance package is added to a GPS/INS guided weapon to increase the overall accuracy of the weapons. Raytheon has developed the Enhanced Paveway family, which adds GPS/INS guidance to their Paveway family of laser-guidance packages. These "hybrid" laser and GPS guided weapons permit

180-409: A cheaper lightweight PGM suitable for use against vehicles and other small targets, while a Paveway III 2000-pound penetrator (such as GBU-24) is a more expensive weapon suitable for use against high-value targets. GBU-12s were used to great effect in the first Gulf War , dropped from F-111F aircraft to destroy Iraqi armored vehicles in a process referred to as "tank plinking." Lessons learned during

225-556: A contract by the United States Army Air Forces for the development of a very large guided bomb. The VB-13 was a combination of a radio-command guidance system as used on the smaller VB-3 Razon (' R ange And a z imuth on ly') guided bomb with the British-developed Tallboy 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) "earthquake" bomb, known to the USAAF as M112. The 'Tarzon' name was a portmanteau , combining Ta llboy, r ange and

270-463: A contract for the production of 1,000 additional ASM-A-1 missiles. March 3, 1951, a new shipment of Tarzon bombs arrived in the Far East, allowing FEAF to resume raids, suspended since Jan. 17, with the large guided weapons. On March 29, 1951, however, a Tarzon strike against Sinuiju went awry; the group commander's aircraft was destroyed as a result of the premature detonation of the bomb when,

315-487: A large scale, by the British forces during the 1982 Falklands War . The first large-scale use of smart weapons came in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm when they were used by coalition forces against Iraq . Even so, most of the air-dropped ordnance used in that war was "dumb," although the percentages are biased by the large use of various (unguided) cluster bombs . Laser-guided weapons were used in large numbers during

360-505: A plant manufacturing enamelled ironware as well as a textile mill, paper mill and an afforestation factory. Its southwest harbour has a shipyard, although the shipyard's main function is seemingly to dismantle ships for scrap metal and other usable materials rather than building new ships. The area has recycling plants which recycle a wide range of material, including products that are banned for recycling in China. The Sinŭiju Cosmetics Factory

405-647: A prime altitude for the aircraft to be in danger from enemy flak . These combined with the weapon's poor reliability – only six of twenty-eight bombs dropped successfully destroyed their targets – to result in the production order being canceled by the USAF; following this, the Tarzon program as a whole was terminated in August 1951. [REDACTED] Media related to ASM-A-1 Tarzon at Wikimedia Commons Guided bomb The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in

450-655: A single mission; the Thanh Hoa Bridge , for instance, was attacked repeatedly with gravity bombs, to no effect, only to be dropped in one mission with PGMs. Although not as popular as the newer JDAM and JSOW weapons, or even the older laser-guided bomb systems, weapons like the AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided bomb are still being used, in conjunction with the AAW-144 Data Link Pod, on US Navy F/A-18 Hornets . In World War II,

495-415: A z imuth on ly, describing the weapon and guidance system; and was pronounced similarly to that of " Tarzan ", the popular "ape-man" fictional character. The VB-13, redesignated ASM-A-1 in 1948, was developed under the project code MX-674. It had an annular wing around the midsection of its body, mounted near the weapon's center of gravity . At the rear of the bomb was an octagonal tail surface containing

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540-688: Is located in South Sinŭiju (Namsinŭiju). A substantial portion of North Korea's international trade, both legal and illegal, passes through Sinuiju and Dandong, across the Yalu River . Since 2002, commercial life has been centred on the Chaeha-dong Market. Based on a satellite image taken on 30 October 2012, the market has been destroyed and is being made into a new park. Sinŭiju can be reached from P'yŏngyang by air, railway and road. It can be reached from Dandong in China by crossing

585-464: Is possible to jam GPS, the guidance package reverts to inertial navigation in the event of GPS signal loss. Inertial navigation is significantly less accurate; the JDAM achieves a published circular error probable (CEP) of 13 m under GPS guidance, but typically only 30 m under inertial guidance (with free fall times of 100 seconds or less). The precision of these weapons is dependent both on

630-733: Is the northern terminus of the Korean State Railway 's P'yŏngŭi Line from P'yŏngyang; the district is also served by several other stations on the P'yŏngŭi line, as well as the Tŏkhyŏn and Paengma lines . It is also connected with the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning Province (China) by the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge , which is 944 m (3,097 ft) long from end to end, and through

675-578: The BOLT-117 , in 1968. GBU-12 Paveway IIs were used to great effect in the first Gulf War , dropped from F-111F aircraft to destroy Iraqi armored vehicles in a process referred to as " tank plinking ". Lessons learned during the first Gulf War showed the value of guided bombs, with precision-guided munitions accounting for 70% of munitions expended during Operation Enduring Freedom . Responding to after-action reports from pilots who employed laser and/or satellite guided weapons, Boeing has developed

720-709: The Manchuria Railway links up with the Trans-Siberian railway . The factories of the city of Sinŭiju are provided with railway service via the Kang'an Line . Sinuiju has a trolleybus line that runs from the city centre to the railway station. It was reopened in October 2020 with new trolleybuses derived from the Pyongyang Chollima-321 trolleybus. It formerly had another line running from

765-599: The Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region , which was established in 2002 to experiment with introducing a market economy. In recent years, the city, despite lagging behind the development in the capital Pyongyang, has seen a small construction boom and increasing tourism from China. Sinŭiju is bordered by the Amnok River , and by P'ihyŏn and Ryongch'ŏn counties . The city's altitude is 1 metre (4 feet) above sea level. There are several islands at

810-608: The 1999 Kosovo War , but their effectiveness was often reduced by the poor weather conditions prevalent in the southern Balkans. There are two basic families of laser-guided bombs in American (and American-sphere) service: the Paveway II and the Paveway III. The Paveway III guidance system is more aerodynamically efficient and so has a longer range, however it is more expensive. Paveway II 500-pound LGBs (such as GBU-12) are

855-523: The ASM-A-1 replacing the Razon in operational service; the smaller weapon had been determined to be too small for effective use against bridges and other hardened targets. Used solely by the 19th Bomb Group , which had previously conducted the Razon's combat missions, the first Tarzon drop in combat took place on December 14, 1950. The largest bomb used in combat during the war, Tarzon was used in strikes against North Korean bridges and other hardened targets,

900-463: The Amnok River by bridge or boat. Foreign tourists on excursion boats from Dandong are sometimes permitted to approach within a few meters of the city's coastline, as long as they do not land. Sinŭiju's airport has a single turf runway 03/21 measuring 991 metres by 61 metres (3250 feet by 213 feet). Air Koryŏ operates passenger and cargo flights from P'yŏngyang. Sinŭiju Ch'ŏngnyŏn Station

945-463: The German Mistel (Mistletoe) " parasite aircraft " was no more effective. The U.S. programs restarted in the Korean War . In the 1960s, the electro-optical bomb (or camera bomb ) was reintroduced. They were equipped with television cameras and flare sights, by which the bomb would be steered until the flare superimposed the target. The camera bombs transmitted a "bomb's eye view" of

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990-932: The Italian battleship Roma in September 1943. The closest Allied equivalents were the 1,000-lb (454 kg) AZON (AZimuth ONly), used in both Europe and the CBI Theater , and the US Navy 's Bat , primarily used in the Pacific Theater of World War II which used autonomous, on-board radar guidance. In addition, the U.S. tested the rocket-propelled Gargoyle ; it never entered service. No Japanese remotely guided PGMs ever saw service in World War II. The United States Army Air Forces used similar techniques with Operation Aphrodite , but had few successes;

1035-568: The Razon control surfaces. Intended to be carried by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, the Tarzon bomb used the combination of AN/ARW-38 [Joint Army Navy, Piloted Aircraft, Radio, Automatic Flight or Remote Control] command link transmitter on the B-29 and an AN/URW-2 [Joint Army Navy, Utility, Radio, Automatic Flight or Remote Control] receiver on the Tarzon to provide manual command guidance of range and azimuth . This

1080-612: The Sinuiju Chongnyon Station to Ragwon Machine Complex that closed between 2005 and 2009 with the reconstruction of the highway with a shifted alignment. Sinŭiju has a monsoonal humid continental climate ( Köppen Dwa ) with hot, humid and stormy summers and cold, dry winters with little snowfall. Facilities in Sinŭiju include Sinŭiju High School, Sinŭiju Commercial High School, Eastern Middle School, Sinŭiju Light Industry University, Sinŭiju University of Medicine and

1125-490: The Tallboy it was based on, the annular wing and control surfaces boosted the weight of Tarzon by an additional 1,100 pounds (500 kg). This made the ASM-A-1 too large and heavy to fit inside the bomb bay of a Superfortress; instead, the weapon was carried in a semi-recessed mounting, half the weapon being exposed to the airstream. This increased drag on the carrying aircraft, and caused turbulent airflow that could affect

1170-414: The Tarzon's improved accuracy over conventional 'dumb bombs' led to the confirmed destruction of at least six high-priority targets during approximately six months of combat use; these included a hydroelectric plant, proving the effectiveness of guided weapons against conventional targets as well as bridges. Thirty Tarzon missions were flown between December 1950 and March 1951; the weapon's success led to

1215-551: The U.S. National Defense Research Committee developed the VB-6 Felix , which used infrared to home on ships. While it entered production in 1945, it was never employed operationally. In 1962, the US Army began research into laser guidance systems and by 1967 the USAF had conducted a competitive evaluation leading to full development of the world's first laser-guided bomb , the BOLT-117 , in 1968. All such bombs work in much

1260-636: The advent of the microchip. They made their practical debut in Vietnam, where on 13 May 1972 when they were used in the second successful attack on the Thanh Hoa Bridge ("Dragon's Jaw"). This structure had previously been the target of 800 American sorties (using unguided weapons) and was partially destroyed in each of two successful attacks, the other being on 27 April 1972 using Walleyes . That first mission also had laser-guided weapons, but bad weather prevented their use. They were used, though not on

1305-484: The aircraft suffering mechanical difficulties, the weapon was jettisoned in preparation for ditching . The thirtieth, and as it proved final, mission, three weeks following the Sinuiju mission, also suffered an unintentional detonation of a jettisoned, "safed" bomb, although this time without the loss of the aircraft. An investigation proved that the fault lay in the construction of the bomb's tail; breaking up on impact,

1350-472: The carriage of fewer weapons types, while retaining mission flexibility, because these weapons can be employed equally against moving and fixed targets, or targets of opportunity. For instance, a typical weapons load on an F-16 flying in the Iraq War included a single 2,000-lb JDAM and two 500-lb LGBs. With LJDAM, and the new Small Diameter Bomb , these same aircraft can carry more bombs if necessary, and have

1395-586: The first Gulf War showed the value of precision munitions, yet they also highlighted the difficulties in employing them—specifically when visibility of the ground or target from the air was degraded. The problem of poor visibility does not affect satellite-guided weapons such as Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), which make use of the United States' GPS system for guidance. This weapon can be employed in all weather conditions, without any need for ground support. Because it

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1440-528: The government again moved - this time to Kanggye . Also, the city sustained heavy damage from aerial bombardment as part of the United States Air Force 's strategic bombing of North Korea ; 95 percent of the city was destroyed. However, the city has since been rebuilt. In 2018, a master plan for the redevelopment of the city was unveiled and shown to Kim Jong Un , which would have featured many high rise buildings and parks, centered around

1485-529: The handling of the B-29. Although the VB-13 project had not reached the testing stage by the end of World War II , it avoided being cancelled, proceeding as a low-priority project. Limited testing was conducted during 1948 and 1949; additional testing at Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1950 led to the Tarzon being approved for operational service in the Korean War . Tarzon saw its first combat use in December 1950,

1530-597: The mouth of the Amnok River - Wihwa-do , Rim-do , Ryuch'o-do and Tongryuch'o-do . Sinuiju city is the heart of the Sinuiju Special Administrative Region . The city is currently divided into 49 tong (neighbourhoods) and 9 ri (villages): Developed as a major settlement during the colonial rule at the terminus of a railway bridge across the Amrok River, Sinuiju is located 11 km (7 miles) south by southwest of Ŭiju ,

1575-474: The old city from whose name Sinŭiju (meaning “New Ŭiju”) derives. As an open port, it grew commercially with the logging industry which uses the Amnok River to transport lumber. Additionally, a chemical industry developed after the hydroelectric Sup'ung Dam was built further up the river. In the course of the Korean War , after being driven from P'yŏngyang, Kim Il Sung and his government temporarily moved its capital to Sinŭiju - although as UNC forces approached,

1620-459: The option of satellite or laser guidance for each weapon release. Sinuiju Sinŭiju ( Korean :  신의주시 ; MR :  Sinŭiju-si ; IPA: [ɕinɰidzu ɕi] ), is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong , Liaoning , China , across the international border of the Yalu River . It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province . Part of the city is included in

1665-470: The precision of the measurement system used for location determination and the precision in setting the coordinates of the target. The latter critically depends on intelligence information, not all of which is accurate. According to a CIA report, the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during Operation Allied Force by NATO aircraft was attributed to faulty target information. However, if

1710-450: The retroactive renaming of older bombs as unguided bombs or "dumb bombs". Guided bombs carry a guidance system which is usually monitored and controlled from an external device. A guided bomb of a given weight must carry fewer explosives to accommodate the guidance mechanisms. The Germans were first to introduce Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) in combat, using the 1,400-kg (3,100 lb) MCLOS -guidance Fritz X to successfully attack

1755-590: The road leading to the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Ultimately, this plan has yet to be fulfilled, with the only major work completed being the repaving of roads leading to the statues and the red coloured, circular apartment building behind and the Sinuiju Youth Open Air Theatre's completion, although the industrial areas in the city have seen some reconstruction. An important light industry centre in North Korea, Sinŭiju has

1800-572: The same way, relying on the target being illuminated, or "painted," by a laser target designator on the ground or on an aircraft. They have the significant disadvantage of not being usable in poor weather where the target illumination cannot be seen, or where it is not possible to get a target designator near the target. The laser designator sends its beam in a series of encrypted pulses so the bomb cannot be confused by an ordinary laser, and also so multiple designators can operate in reasonable proximity. Laser-guided weapons did not become commonplace until

1845-621: The success of the weapon in the Gulf War. In World War II, the aforementioned Fritz X and Henschel Hs 293 guided ordnance designs were used in combat by Nazi Germany against ships, as the USAAF would do with the Azon in hitting bridges and other hard-to-hit targets in both Western Europe and Burma. Later, U.S. National Defense Research Committee developed the VB-6 Felix , which used infrared to home on ships. While it entered production in 1945, it

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1890-517: The target back to a controlling aircraft. An operator in this aircraft then transmitted control signals to steerable fins fitted to the bomb. Such weapons were used increasingly by the USAF in the last few years of the Vietnam War because the political climate was increasingly intolerant of civilian casualties, and because it was possible to strike difficult targets (such as bridges) effectively with

1935-581: The targeting information is accurate, satellite-guided weapons are significantly more likely to achieve a successful strike in any given weather conditions than any other type of precision-guided munition. Other military satellite guidance systems include: Russian GLONASS , European Galileo , Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System , Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System , Japanese regional Quasi-Zenith Satellite System . The guided bomb had its origins in World War II . Its usage increased after

1980-412: Was done with visual tracking of the bomb's course, aided by a flare mounted in the tail of the weapon. Gyroscopes on board the ASM-A-1 aided in stabilisation, while a pneumatic system drove the bomb's control surfaces. The guidance system was considered effective; Tarzon proved in testing to have an accuracy of 280 feet (85 m). In addition to the 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) nominal weight of

2025-481: Was never employed operationally. The US briefly deployed the ASM-A-1 Tarzon (or VB-13 Tarson) bomb (a Tallboy fitted with radio guidance) during the Korean War , dropping them from Boeing B-29 Superfortresses . In 1962, the US Army began research into laser guidance systems and by 1967 the USAF had conducted a competitive evaluation leading to full development of the world's first laser-guided bomb ,

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