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Bomb Speed
Name: David
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: CA
Country: USA
Date: Winter 2011-2012
Question:
Yesterday I was watching a program on WWII in which they dropped bunker buster bombs (from 4 miles up) near a heavily fortified bunker from which they were launching U2 rockets. The walls were 12 ft thick and conventional bombs had no affect. The idea was for the bomb to imbed itself underground and explode. It worked beautifully! It was 12,000 pounds! My question revolves around the fact that they said the bomb reached 2,500 MPH. Is this possible? I am familiar with the basics of terminal velocity/physics, but have never heard of anything free falling that fast.
Replies:
David, a little internet searching revealed several references to
rocket-assisted bombs in WWII. In other words, these speeds were not
reached by freefall, but by using rockets to propel the bomb downward.
Basically, a solid-fuel rocket was fitted onto the bomb, and it was
dropped from high altitude - over 22,000 feet. This allowed it to
reach near-Mach-3 speeds.
I am not posting links because I could not find authoritative sources.
However, if you do some searching for Disney Bomb, you may find
specifications that are similar to what you heard on the program.
Hope this helps,
Burr Zimmerman
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Update: June 2012
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