>Anon423 at 10:48, 3 October 2021

2021-10-03T10:48:08Z

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{{Refimprove|date=November 2013}}
[[File:IMI Runway Attack Munition.jpg|thumb|IMI modern Runway Attack Munition]]
'''Anti-runway penetration bombs''' are systems involving [[bomb]]s or [[bomblet]]s designed to disrupt the surface of an [[runway|airfield runway]] and make it unusable for flight operations.

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 [[dibber]] bombs played a major part in the near complete destruction of the large [[Egyptian Air Force]], 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 air force and resulting Israeli [[air supremacy]] contributed significantly to the outcome of the war on all fronts. The [[Israel Military Industries|IMI]] 'Runway Piercing Bomb' was a prototype Israeli-French anti-runway weapon. It used rocket braking over the target and a second rocket burst to plunge through the runway surface and explode.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jane's Air Launched Weapons|url=http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/Durandal-BLU-107-B-France.html|publisher=Jane's Information group|accessdate=2011-07-23|date=12 January 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426183959/http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/Durandal-BLU-107-B-France.html|archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=docstoc>{{cite web|title=Ordnance & Munitions Forecast|url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/80290053/Durandal-BLU-Archived|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019143921/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/80290053/Durandal-BLU-Archived|archivedate=October 19, 2013|url-status=dead|accessdate=23 July 2011}}</ref><ref>"Dassault Mirage: The Combat Log", Salvador Mafe Huertas, page 41, {{ISBN|978-0764301681}}</ref>

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, [[Booster (rocketry)|rocket booster]], and two [[warhead]]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.<ref name=docstoc/><ref>{{cite web|title= MBDA (Matra) BLU-107/B Durandal|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/blu-107.html|accessdate=23 July 2011}}</ref> The Durandal was used by the USAF in the initial stages of the 1991 operation [[Desert Storm]] against Iraqi airfields, delivered by [[F-111]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=BLU-107 Durandal - Dumb Bombs|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/blu-107.htm|accessdate=23 July 2011}}</ref>

Another, now withdrawn from service, was the [[JP233]], 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 banning cluster mines, the JP233 was retired.

==See also==
*[[Cluster bomb]]
*[[DRDO Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon]]
*[[Matra Durandal]]
*[[Fares Scale of Injuries due to Cluster Munitions]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Aerial bombs]]
[[Category:Anti-runway weapons| ]]

{{Weapon-stub}}

Anti-runway penetration bomb - Revision history

>Anon423 at 10:48, 3 October 2021