Do you know? While not directly related to SAAF - some may find this of interest: The highly destructive golf bomb was developed in Rhodesia in 1976/7. A weapon was needed to produce a lethal effect over relatively large areas. Originally called Project Foxtrot and later Project Golf, the objective was to produce a fuel-air explosive bomb. Working from US FAE bombs that descended on parachutes Sqn Leader Petter-Bowyer experimented to find a better alternative for more accurate delivery without a parachute and using less volatile explosives. The discovery of ANFO that could be manufactured cheaply and easily was the breakthrough that allowed the Golf bomb to be developed. When confined in a steel container and given an initiator charge, ANFO generates an enormous amount of high pressure gas. That creates a huge Explosion but as the gas cools immediately,a void is created, causing air to move at supersonic speed in an Implosion. Both the explosion and immediate implosion cause equal dose of deadly damage. Petter-Bowyer was not content to see the majority of blast energy being taken up in making ground craters or being expelled skywards. The final product, ready in March 1977, had double steel cylinders sandwiching thousands of pieces of chopped 10 mm metal rods and a meter long proboscis that hit the ground to immediately detonate the weapon above ground. This together with a dual initiation Pentolite booster charges created a devastating lateral effect. The Golf bomb flattened everything around the point of contact, including substantial trees, up to 45 meters radius. The shrapnel sprayed out beyond this. The ground was pulverised and turned to powder. The injuries from the Golf bomb were of two distinct type. Shrapnel from the explosion would shred a body. The implosion would create over pressure that would destroy vital organs without damage to the outer skin. Victims would appear unhurt from the outside but on the inside they were mashed. The golf bomb was delivered by the Hawker Hunter both in attacking terrorists inside and external to Rhodesia. Page 352 of RETRIBUTION - Its brutal Sir, observed Robs Sergeant. These bastards are pulverised. Ya its the Golf Bombs from the Hunters that did this. Those close in where the bomb went off are torn to shreds, but those over there, Rob pointed to where several dozen terrorists lay, ... they got their insides scrambled to mush. Thats why they look uninjured until you open them up. I didnt know we had this stuff, Sir. retributionbook
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 14:12:54 +0000
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