The AB 250-3 (Abwurfbehälter) was an
anti-personnel
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gav ...
cluster bomb
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehi ...
used by the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
AB 250-3
The AB 250-3 could be suspended horizontally within a
bomb bay
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the ...
or fuselage or wing
hardpoint
A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal structural load, load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station o ...
. It also had
trunnions
A trunnion () is a cylindrical protrusion used as a mounting or pivoting point. First associated with cannons, they are an important military development.
In mechanical engineering (see the trunnion bearing section below), it is one part of ...
so it could be dropped by
dive bombers
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
. The body of the AB 250-3 was constructed of mild sheet steel and was of clamshell construction and hinged at the tail. It was divided into three compartments; a dome-shaped nose compartment, a cylindrical center compartment, and a cone-shaped tail compartment. The AB 250-3 could carry 108 x
SD 2 anti-personnel bombs in its center section. The AB 250-3 was similar to the other AB 250 containers except it had six tail fins instead of four welded to the container with braces riveted between each fin. The nose compartment housed the fuze pocket which was welded to a bracket on the upper half of the container. The two halves were held together by a shear wire which passed through a steel anvil, in the lower part of the fuze pocket. When dropped a time fuze was triggered and after a few seconds, the wire holding the container together was sheared by a small exploder under the fuze. The case then opened and allowed the bombs to fall out. The containers were painted dark green with two longitudinal red stripes on tail cone.
Gallery
File:Objects Dropped From The Air p06.jpg, A photo of a SD 2 from Civil Defence Training Pamphlet No 2: Objects Dropped From The Air (3rd Edition).
File:Sd2 closed.jpg, SD 2 - Closed: The fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates its function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fu ...
is not yet armed.
File:Sd2 opened.jpg, SD 2 - Open: wings have flipped open and screw threads
A screw thread is a helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. A screw thread is a ridge wrapped around a cylinder or cone in the form of a helix, with the former being called a ''straight'' thread and the ...
at the base of arming spindle are visible: fuze is now armed.
See also
*
References
{{WWIIGermanAerialWeapons
World War II aerial bombs of Germany