How long is an Iraqi R-400 bomb?

[Ranchoth]

I have kind of an odd, obscure technical question…what’s the length of an Iraqi R-400 aerial bomb?

I’ve been able to find a little info on their weight, and even photos taken by UN Weapons Inspectors, but nothing relating to the physical size of the weapons.

Can anyone help me out?

[commasense]

All right, Ranchoth. We’ve been helping you get all this information about and pictures of various bombs for weeks now.

I think it’s about time you told us what you’re up to, young man.

[Ranchoth]

It’s just a hobby of mine—building weapon files for use in the flight simulator I use. I just recently completed a nuclear weapons collection using the Data on a French nuclear bomb a fellow doper helped me find.

It’s amazing what you can do with completely unclassified information. It really is.

And if only someone could find me some information on an E-96 Cluster Unit, I could finally die a happy man.

[cornflakes]

Well, this is a completely WAG, but considering that the black dots on the wood of the crates are rust marks from the nails, I’d say tha the middle brace under the bomb in the foreground is made out of 2X stock and is 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inches thick. I’d guess they’re about three feet long.

[LSLGuy]

Former USAF pilot here.

Those bombs are much longer than 3 feet.

In the US, bombs weighing less than 2000# are suspended by 2 lugs on 14" spacing. Heavier bombs use 30" spacing. The Iraqis used a lot of Soviet gear, so I’d expect those bombs’ lugs are set for Soviet spacing, which I don’t know & Google can’t find for me now. But the spacing’s going to be in that ballpark: 2 feet +/- 6 inches.

The lugs are clearly visible on the second and third bomb as square light-colored loops poking out the top. There appear to be 4, but two are the heavy suspension lugs, and the other 2 flimsier ones are for attaching arming wires.

Assuming 14" lug spacing, a crude photometric analysis of the third bomb gives us a 100" long, 16" diameter bomb that, based on typical bomb densities, will probably weigh around 750 lbs. Looking at chemical bombs in other countries’ arsenals, that’s abot the right size , so we’re probably not too far off.

The light gray part is the tank and represents 95% of the weight, while the dark gray part is the fin assembly, a lightweight sheetmetal structure thats’s hollow and probably contains the fuze. Hence the lugs are mounted well forward, to be centered over the weight, not the visual cross-section.

[astro]

Short history of the R-400 aerial bomb (no dimension details)

II. MUNITIONS AND OTHER DELIVERY MEANS, CLUSTERS
a. Scud-type Biological and Chemical Warheads
The r-400’s internal carrying capacity for “product” is 85 liters.

Iraq‘s chemical arsenal included 250-lb (LD-250) and 400-lb (R-400) bombs. Based on successful chemical warfare, some of these bombs were adapted to hold 60 L and 85 L of biological solution, respectively. When deemed necessary, the walls of the chambers containing the payload were coated with an inert epoxy paint to protect the biological agents from the toxic effects of contact with metal. Testing determined that the R-400 was the more suitable munition for biological warfare. In 1990, 200 R-400 biological bombs were produced; of these, 100 were filled with botulinum toxin, 50 with anthrax, and 7 with aflatoxin. These biologically armed bombs were deployed at 2 sites, ready for immediate use

Iraq investigated a whole range of delivery systems including bombs, rockets, and artillery shells, using liquid agents. In general, their weapon types were developed by MSE and not by the biologists. They used reverse-engineering to build the R-400 bomb, which is a curious choice because it was originally a conventional penetrating bomb and it has thick casing. They said it was demanded by the Iraqi Air Force. The bombs were filled at Al Muthanna. They were destroyed by UNSCOM in 1992. At the time of the destruction, UNSCOM was not aware that the bombs were to be filled with BW, although the Iraqis marked them with a black stripe. Another delivery system that they used was 122mm rockets. This is also a curious choice for BW because they have a range of 14-15 km.

. R-400 and R-400A Bombs

Introduction

Prior to 1988, Iraq designed and produced all of its aerial munitions designated for CW use for high altitude delivery. In 1990, however, the R-400 type bombs were indigenously produced especially for low altitude CBW delivery. The bomb has a 90 litre capacity with a steel body, longitudinal burster tube, nose fuse and tail fin assembly with a retarding parachute mechanism. The R-400 type bombs were intended for external carriage on fighter or attack aircraft.

[astro]

You like aerial bomb specs?

go here

https://naveodtechdiv.navsea.navy.mil/IraqOIG/PDF-low/01-Bomb.pdf

The R-400 R-400a uses the tail assembly of the BRIP- 400 (page 30) which is 2.2 meters long and .43 meters in diameter (widest) with a Iraqi produced casing. The casing (in the photos) appears to be more or less identical in appearance and size to the BRIP-400.

If you want to be totally precise you can print out and scale the size of the tail section of the BRIP-400 from the diagram in the navsea PDF, and once that is known compare it to the big photo of the bomb in the crate and use that to get the precise length of the bomb.

[Reeder]

You might find this useful…

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/

[Ranchoth]

Oh, cool…thanks for the info, all!