General Facts
- TYPE
Cluster bomb - ORIGIN
Rhodesia
- NICKNAMES
- - DESIGNED
1970's - DESIGNER
? - PRODUCTION
From the 1970's until at least the early 1990's - PRODUCERS
Rhodesia
South Africa - Kentron
- QUANTITY
Unknown - UNIT COST
Unknown - CHARACTERISTICS
Can be safely dropped from very low altitudes
Large area of effect
Ineffective against armored targets
Introduction
The CB470 is a cluster bomb of South African origin. The Alpha bomblet was developed in Rhodesia in the 1970's. When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe the designers moved to South Africa and created the CB470 bomb for use with the existing Alpha bomblet.
Design
The CB470 is a cluster bomb with a unique design. The conventionally shaped dispenser has been created around the existing round Alpha bomblet. A total of 40 bomblets are carried and each bomblet is provided with its own ejection door. Upon release the fuze each radial row of four bomblets with 0.8 second interval in order to maximize area of effect. The bomblet will first bounce on the ground, even on water or mud, before exploding mid air for increased fragmentation range.
Firepower
Each of the 40 bomblets has a RDX/TNT filling and will produce fragments that are effective against personnel, soft skin vehicles and other unarmored targets. A single CB 470 has a 70 m wide and 250 m long shrapnel footprint. When dropped at speeds of 850 to 1.000 km/h the CB470 can be safely dropped from altitudes as low as 25 meters.
Platform
In Rhodesia the Alpha bomblets were carried by bomber aircraft. They were suspended in baskets in the bomb bay. The CB470 can be fitted to nearly every fighter or light strike aircraft of both Western and Soviet origin. In South African service it is used on the Impala Mk II, Mirage F-1AZ and Cheetah.
Users
The Alpha bomblet was used in Rhodesia and quantities may remain in Zimbabwe. South Africa adopted the CB470 eventually and it has been exported to Iraq and possibly other nations.
CB470
Alpha bomblet: Originally the bomblet was to be dropped from the bomb bay of a bomber aircraft while suspended in baskets.
CB470: Free fall cluster bomb with 40 bomblets for use against soft targets.
CB472: Reported version with runway denial bomblets. May not have been placed in production.
- Specifications:
- CB470
Type | Cluster bomb |
---|---|
Diameter | 0.419 m |
Wingspan | 0.64 m tail |
Length | 2.6 m |
---|---|
Weight | 450 kg |
Warhead | 40x Alpha bomblet, 6.2 kg with 1.3 kg RDX/TNT warhead and 140 mm diameter |
Guidance | None, free fall |
---|---|
Launch envelope | 25 m minimum altitude, 700 to 1.000 km/h |
Remarks | 250 or 356 mm lug spacing |