BL755

Article summary

BL755 is a cluster bomb developed by Hunting Aircraft that contains 147 parachute-retarded high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) submunitions. Its primary targets are armoured vehicles and tanks with secondary soft target (anti personnel) capabilities. It entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1973. BL755 was developed as a new-generation anti-tank weapon that would allow extremely low-level attacks against Soviet armoured formations. The introduction of the ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft gun rendered the pop-up attack profile demanded by iron bombs and air-to-ground rockets almost suicidal. The cluster munition would be dropped in pairs while the aircraft overflew the formation at and 300 feet altitude, covering an area of . The weapon's first use in combat was during the Falklands War where it was used in the anti-infantry role. When dropped from ultra-low altitudes, the bomblets proved to have a very high failure rate because the parachutes often did not deploy in time. A new version was ordered for the Gulf War that added a radar altimeter allowing release from medium altitudes and then opening at the proper altitude. As part of the 2007 Convention on Cluster Munitions negotiations, the RAF agreed to remove the BL755 from its inventory by 2008.…

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