Talk:M121 (bomb)

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Added some information on the use of the M-121 in the Vietnam war. Can't find any sources on WWII usage. MarcoLittel (talk) 17:23, 12 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's because it WASN'T DEVELOPED until after World War II! The M-121 was developed for use with the B-36 bomber but was never used operationally.

The information regarding why the BLU-82 was developed is wrong (much of Thigpen's info in his book is incorrect.)The BLU-82 was developed as a replacement for the M-121s because there weren't that many of them and the supply was being used up. The M-121s were also unreliable - we frequently had duds and when that happened an Army EOD team had to go in and blow them up to keep the TNT from being used by the NVA/VC. Each bomb had two fuzes, one on the nose and a secondary fuze on the rear that was timer activated and designed to blow the weapon up if the main fuze failed.

Also, the first test drops in Vietnam by the 463rd TAW were in October 1968, not December. SamMcGowan (talk) 01:57, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

B-29's Dropped 10,000 pound bombs in World War II

I'm not sure the 10,000 pound bombs were designated M-121 but they were filled with amatol and despite a thin casing, they only contained 5,100 lbs. of explosive. This was due to a heavy steel nose that aided aerodynamics and increased their accuracy. More common was the 4,000 pound bomb that was also filled with amatol but contained 3,200 pounds of explosive. I don't know of these bombs being used except against Japan. This information is in the records of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey. The reports are entitled "The Effects of the Ten Thousand Pound Bomb on Japanese Targets" (a Report on Nine Incidents), 1947. 224 p. and "Effects of the Four Thousand Pound Bomb on Japanese Targets" (a Report on Five Incidents), 1946. 280 p.TL36 (talk) 09:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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