Bombkapsel 90 (BK90) is the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

's nomenclature for a gliding stand-off submunitions dispenser, or

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 vehicl ...

, with 72

submunition 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 vehicl ...

s. It is manufactured by

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace ''Dasa'' ( sa, दास, Dāsa) is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the ''Rigveda'' and ''Arthasastra''. It usually means "enemy" or "servant" but ''dasa'', or ''das'', also means a "servant of God", "devotee," "votary" or "o ...

in Germany by the name of DWS 24 - ''Dispenser Weapon System 24 barrels''. The BK90 is also commonly known as DWS 39 '' Mjölner'' because it was intended for use with the Saab

JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...

. In the future it could be also integrated on the

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

. Its design is very similar to that of the American

AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon The AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is a glide bomb that resulted from a joint venture between the United States United States Navy, Navy and United States Air Force, Air Force to deploy a standardized medium range precision guided weapon, ...

. Have been in service with the Swedish

aircraft, but withdrawn, after the government of Sweden decided to sign the

Convention on Cluster Munitions The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. Additionally, ...

banning the use of BK90. In conjunction with the

LITENING The AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening targeting pod is an advanced precision targeting pod system currently operational with a wide variety of aircraft worldwide. The research and development of the ''Litening'' was first undertaken by Rafael Advanced Defense ...

targeting pod Targeting pods (TGP) are target designation tools used by attack aircraft for identifying targets and guiding precision-guided munition (PGM) such as laser-guided bombs to those targets. The first targeting pods were developed in conjunction with ...

, the weapon is currently operational with the

Hellenic Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

carried both by the F-4E PI-2000 AUP and the now retired

A-7E Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

Background and reason for development

The main task for the Swedish Armed Forces has, for a long time, been to repel a potential foreign invading force. This means all weapon systems are designed for use within Sweden's national borders. "Cluster bombs" are notorious for leaving active un-exploded ordnance (UXO) which failed to detonate upon impact, and for that reason all weapons using sub-munitions for a long time were rejected by the Försvarets Materielverk ''Defence Materiel Administration'' deeming it an unacceptable risk. There was a significant need for a weapon that have a smaller risk area than a bomb (sometimes called a ''mine-bomb'' in Swedish literature), and have the capacity to destroy a large number of targets attacking in mass. A project to develop such a weapon was initiated in cooperation with a weapons manufacturer. The system was called a to clarify the difference between it and an older type cluster weapon. A significant amount of resources was devoted to developing this system, and to make sure that no matter what happened, an UXO would never become active and pose a danger to the civilian populace. Unlike the cluster weapons common at the time, every component in this sub-munitions dispenser has been designed so that it cannot leave active, un-exploded sub-munitions. For example, a sub-munition cannot detonate without a correct launch indication. If a faulty sub-munition was to be launched from the pod and by some unlikely event become active on the ground, the internal system has been designed so that the sub-munition cannot detonate for any reason, since it didn't receive a correct launch indication. There are many other design features resulting in that no active un-exploded ordnance is left. The details about exactly how this is achieved are all classified.

References

Aerial bombs Cluster munition Guided bombs Post–Cold War weapons of Germany Weapons of Sweden {{Bomb-stub