Named for
a mythical medieval French sword, the Durandal is an
anti-runway penetration bomb
Anti-runway penetration bombs are systems involving bombs or bomblets designed to disrupt the surface of an airfield runway and make it unusable for flight operations.
Perhaps the most strategically decisive, best known, and first wartime use of ...
developed by the French company
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...
(now
MBDA
MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of missiles.[MBDA Inc. US Division Cor ...](_blank)
), designed to destroy airport
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s and exported to several countries. A simple crater in a runway could be just filled in, so the Durandal uses two explosions to displace the concrete slabs of a runway, thus making the runway much more difficult to repair.
Overview
Designed to be dropped from low altitudes, the bomb's fall is slowed by a
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
. The maximum release speed is and the minimum release altitude is . When the bomb has reached a 40° angle due to the parachute's drag, it fires a
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
booster that accelerates it into the runway surface. The primary charge explodes after the weapon has penetrated the concrete and drives the secondary charge even deeper. The secondary charge then explodes after a one-second delay. Later production weapons have a programmable fuse that can delay the secondary detonation up to several hours.
The weapon can penetrate up to of
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
, and creates a crater deep and approximately in diameter. In addition, concrete slabs around the crater are disturbed in an area approximately in diameter. The disturbed slabs are displaced up to above the original surface, making repair more difficult than the simple crater from a conventional bomb.
Service history
There is a persistent story that the first use of the current Matra Durandal was by Israeli Mirages during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 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, S ...
. This is inaccurate, as this war took place ten years before the Durandal was first available on the arms market. Rather, the prototype French/Israeli anti-runway weapon program which actually cratered Egyptian runways in 1967 is related, but distinct from the Durandal. The Israeli weapon used rockets rather than parachutes to brake over the target. The Matra development branch was in development from 1971 on and would form the basis for the Durandal which uses parachute braking.
[
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The Durandal was adopted by the US in a slightly modified form (with a steeper impact angle and a higher 630 knot deployment speed) as the BLU-107/B in the 1980s, and carried by F-111 and F-15E strike aircraft.[
In addition, the Durandal is in service with Argentina, Turkey, and at least 14 other nations. The Durandal is not currently in the weapon inventory of the French Armée de l'Air][
It was used by the USAF in ]Desert Storm
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, delivered by F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons ca ...
E's of the 20th Fighter Wing operating out of Turkey. 20th Wing flight commander Captain George Kelman said "there is nothing better at destroying a runway than a Durandal."
It has been reported that China has developed its own anti-runway bombs, the Type 200A, using Durandals as models. In the 1980s, China purchased a number of Durandals from France.
Users
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See also
* BAPI – A Brazilian anti-runway weapon
*DRDO SAAW
The DRDO Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) is a long-range precision-guided anti-airfield weapon developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is designed to be capable of engaging ground targets with high preci ...
– An Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
precision-guided anti-airfield weapon
* JP233
Originally known as the LAAAS (Low-Altitude Airfield Attack System), the JP233 is a British submunition delivery system consisting of large dispenser pods carrying several hundred submunitions designed to attack runways.
Design and development
D ...
– A British anti-runway weapon
* BAP 100
The BAP 100 (French:''Bombe Anti-Piste'' 100 mm, Anti-Runway Bomb) is a French anti-runway cluster bomb developed in the mid-1970s, and which entered service with the French Air Force in the early 1980s. The bomb consists of eighteen submun ...
– A smaller French anti-runway weapon adopted by the French Air Force
References
External links
BLU-107 page on GlobalSecurity
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Aerial bombs of France
Anti-runway weapons
Matra
Military equipment introduced in the 1970s