Anti-runway penetration bombs are

explosive weapons An explosive weapon is a weapon that uses an explosive to project blast wave, blast and/or fragmentation (weaponry), fragmentation from a point of detonation. In the common practice of State (polity), states, explosive weapons are generally the p ...

involving

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

s or

bomblet 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 ...

s designed to damage or destroy

runways In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (grass, dirt, gravel, ...

, or otherwise render them unusable for aircraft. Perhaps the most strategically decisive, best known, and first wartime use of specialized cratering anti-runway weapons was by Israel during the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. The

dibber A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so that seeds, seedlings or small bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of designs including the straight dibber, T-handled dibber, trowel dibber, a ...

bombs played a major part in the near complete destruction of the large

Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...

, mostly on the ground, in a preemptive strike on the first morning of the war by the commitment of the whole of the far smaller Israeli Air Force to the strike. The surprising elimination of the Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi's air force and resulting Israeli

air supremacy Air supremacy (as well as air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of ...

contributed significantly to the outcome of the war on all fronts. Before the war, France offered the IAF a $200,000-per-unit Runway Buster solution. It was too expensive for the country still in a recession. So, the head of the IAF Munition Development unit, Lieutenant Colonel Asher Peleg, met with the Head of Research and Development for the IMI, Avraham Makov. The two discussed how to find a solution locally. Within five days, they had their answer: an Israeli-designed Runway Buster that would only cost 2,000 Lira (the country's currency in 1967) to produce. It used rocket braking over the target and a second rocket burst to plunge through the runway surface and explode. One system available from 1977 diverging from the French/Israeli runway piercing bomb concept used in 1967 is the Matra Durandal, a single 450 lb bomb with parachute braking, rocket booster, and two

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

s. Dropped by aircraft flying at low level, it is braked by parachute, and when at the correct angle fires a rocket to impact the runway. It first ignites a large explosive charge to create a crater, and then uses a smaller charge that has penetrated the crater to displace adjacent concrete slabs. The slabs, once displaced, are far harder to deal with than a simple hole that can be patched with asphalt. The Durandal has been widely exported. The Durandal was used in 1991 by the United States Air Force in the initial stages of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, delivered by

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production models of the F-111 had roles that included attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons capabiliti ...

s against Iraqi airfields. Another weapon, now withdrawn from service, was the British

JP233 The JP233, originally known as the Low-Altitude Airfield Attack System (LAAAS), is a British submunition delivery system. It consists of large dispenser pods carrying several hundred submunitions designed to attack runways. Design and developme ...

; a dispenser and submunitions system. An aircraft would fly over the target runway and release a mixture of penetrating and anti-personnel submunitions to both crater the runway and impede repair work. The anti-personnel mines could be armed with time-delay fuses, threatening runway repair crews with the risk of death or bodily injury. After the UK signed an international accord in 1997, banning the production & use of anti-personnel mines, the JP233 was retired.

References

Aerial bombs {{Bomb-stub

See also

References