A Bunker buster bomb is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets burred deep underground.

Contents

1 Aircraft delivered bombs 2 missiles 3 Nuclear 4 External links

Aircraft delivered bombs

In World War II the British designer Barnes Wallis of Bouncing bomb fame, designed two bunker buster bombs. The five tonne Tallboy bomb and the ten tonne Grand Slam (Earthquake) bomb. The designs were very aerodynamic with a tail which caused them to spin. This allowed them to break the sound barrier as they fell from a height of 22,000 feet. They had a much thicker skin than the typical World War II bomb so that they would survive the impact of hitting a hardened surface.

In the First Gulf War (1990-1991) there was a need for deep penetration bomb similar to the British weapons of World War II, but none of the NATO air forces had such a weapon. These were developed rapidly over a period of 28 days, using old 8 inch artillery barrels as casings. The bombs held over two tons of high explosive and were laser-guided. They were designated "Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28)". They worked very effectively.

More recently the US has developed a series of custom made bombs to penetrate hardened or deeply buried structures:

Depth of Penetration	War head designation	Weapon Systems
Pentration of reinforced concrete: 1.8 m (6 ft)	BLU-109 Penetrator (Mark 84 bomb)	GBU-10, GBU-15, GBU-24, GBU-27, AGM-130
Pentration of reinforced concrete: 3.4 m (11 ft)	BLU-116 Advanced Unitary Penetrator (AUP)	GBU-15, GBU-24, GBU-27, AGM-130
Pentration of reinforced concrete: 3.4 m (11 ft)	BLU-118/B Thermobaric Warhead	GBU-15, GBU-24, AGM-130
Pentration of reinforced concrete: more than 6 m (20 ft)	BLU-113 Super Penetrator	GBU-28, GBU-37

missiles

The rocket motor in missiles can be used to drive a hardened war head deep into a structure.

Nuclear

See Nuclear bunker buster

External links

• Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator  (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-28.htm)
• GBU-28/B "Bunker Buster"  (http://www.clw.org/milspend/gbu28.html)
• BBC: 'Bunker buster' missiles aim at Moon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2970205.stm)