What materials were delivered by aerial propaganda bombs during World War II?

During the Second World War, specially equipped aerial propaganda bombs were used for the first time to deliver information psychological warfare propaganda materials from the plane.

At present, this kind of aerial propaganda bomb delivered by the US military for information psychological warfare is mainly M 129 special aerial propaganda bomb (called aviator bomb by NATO)-E1and E2. This kind of aerial propaganda bomb was developed during the Vietnam War and successfully used to complete the information countermeasure task.

The specially-made M 129E 1/E2 aerial propaganda bomb can be installed in the engine room of a bomber or on the external rack of a fighter-bomber or fighter, and a large number of leaflets can be directly distributed to enemy areas, so as to minimize the dispersion effect of airflow movement on leaflets and ensure the high-precision landing of leaflets.

The M 129E 1 E2 aerial propaganda bomb is made of glass fiber, and consists of M129E1body and M 148 tail. The length of the projectile is19.05cm, and the diameter is 40.6cm. The empty projectile weighs 52.2kg, and the weight of the flyer is102.5kg, which means its payload is 50.3kg.. 30,000 leaflets with the size of 13.7cm×20.3cm can be placed in the bomb. The leaflet was rolled into 7 rolls by the machine, each weighing 7.3 kilograms. The bomb can carry 60,000 to 80,000 leaflets under the condition that the size of the propaganda materials used is small.

In order to be able to load bombs, the leaflets were rolled into 6 rolls with a diameter of 36 cm, 1 roll and a diameter of 3 1 cm. The bombs that can carry M 129E 1/E2 include B-52 stratospheric fortress bomber, A-6 intruder attack aircraft, F- 16 Falcon fighter and F- 18 Hornet fighter.

In the process of practical application, American experts found a series of shortcomings of M/KOOC-0/29E/KOOC-0/and M/KOOC-0/29E/KOOC-0/E2 aerial propaganda bombs. First of all, the body of aviation propaganda bomb is made of low-strength glass fiber, which is usually hung in the external rack of fighter or the magazine of bomber, which greatly limits the flight performance and maneuverability of aircraft. Secondly, the design of aerial propaganda bomb can't be said to be very successful. The fuse in the bomb is located between the rolls of leaflets, which often leads to the ignition of paper propaganda materials, making some leaflets unusable.

Generally speaking, American psychological warfare experts believe that the design of M129E1E2 aerial propaganda bomb is outdated, so it is necessary to develop and equip a brand-new aerial propaganda bomb. At the same time, in the Iraq war in 2003, the United States used 2,000 M 129 aerial propaganda bombs and dropped 654.38+225 million leaflets.

The information warfare laboratory of the US Air Force is responsible for the research and experimental design in the field of aviation equipment and weapons manufacturing of the US military. Since 1997, the organization has implemented 270 research projects in the field of information warfare, all of which are related to the implementation of psychological warfare. Experts in the laboratory admit that the M129E1E2 aerial propaganda bomb is out of date, and it can be replaced by the aerial cluster bomb removed from weapons and stored in a large number of military warehouses. This is mainly because, structurally speaking, cluster bombs are composed of several magazines, which can hold explosives or put leaflets.

American experts selected SUU-30B/B aviation cluster bomb as the test sample of aviation propaganda bomb. Cluster bombs are 2.33 meters long and 40.6 centimeters in diameter. Due to different uses, SUU-30B/B aviation cluster bomb has several different shapes. However, this aerial bomb is based on SUU-30 magazine, which was used to fill ammunition, but now it can be used to deliver printed matter. According to the application of the magazine, a cluster leaflet (propaganda) bomb code-named LBU-30 was developed.

In addition, SUU-30 magazine is also a part of CBU-52, 58, 7 1 cluster bombs that have been detached from weapons, which enables American experts to develop new propaganda bombs for dropping leaflets on this basis.

The number of leaflets contained in SUU-30 magazine is far more than that of M 129 aerial bomb, but so far, the payload of the new aerial propaganda bomb has not been announced. The new LBU-30 cluster leaflet (propaganda) bomb called Falcon by the US Air Force was first tested at Eglin Air Force Base (Florida) in 2000. In the test, the F- 16 fighter of the 40th Flight Test Squadron of the US Air Force successfully dropped the LBU-30 aerial bomb from an altitude of 6,000 meters.

Later, the US Air Force Information Warfare Laboratory decided to use SUU-30 cluster bomb magazine to improve the old M 129 aerial bomb. This is mainly because the new bomb will not limit the tactical and technical capabilities of fighters participating in psychological warfare.

Another test sample modified for delivering printed information psychological warfare propaganda materials is Mk20 "Shiyan -2" cluster bomb, which can also be carried by carrier aircraft. Mk20 "Shiyan" cluster bomb is 2. 1m long and 33cm in diameter. The working principle of Mk20 "Shiyan -2" cluster bomb is similar to that of SUU-30B/B aviation cluster bomb analyzed earlier. The leaflet (propaganda) bomb made on the basis of it is named PDU5/B (literally, the bomb for dropping printed matter).

The SUU-76C/B cluster magazine of Mk20 "Shiyan -2" cluster bomb was adopted in its design.

200 1, 1 1, the fighter of the 40th flight test squadron of the US Air Force participated in the first test of the PDU5/B concentrated flyer (propaganda) bomb at Eglin Air Force Base, USA.

June 5438+October 2002 10, the US Air Force Command decided to mass-produce this type of leaflet (propaganda) bomb.