- Yes
- No
Hello everyone, and welcome to a new suggestion for a new French weapon, the Belouga bomb.
The Belouga bomb is a cluster bomb usable on a large number of French Air Force aircraft. It is the only cluster munition weapon to have been used by the French military in theaters of operation.
The BLG-66 bomb/grenade launcher, more commonly known as the Belouga, is a cluster munitions weapon developed by Matra in the 1970s. It was put into service in the early 1980s on all French aircraft capable of ground attack (i.e. almost all aircraft, since the Jaguars, Mirage F1 and Mirage 2000 are capable of it, only the Mirage IV was not equipped with it). The bomb was only used twice on operational missions during the Gulf War in 1991. All the examples produced were destroyed between 1996 and 2000, due to the government’s desire to remove cluster munitions from the French army.
The main evidence of its use comes from a Jaguar pilot’s account of the attack on Al Jaber airport, a mission during which he used the bomb to neutralize the runway and infrastructure.
Characteristics
Length : 3.3 m
Diameter : 360 mm
Wingspan : 580 mm
Weight : around 300 kg
The total weight of the bomb varies depending on the type of submunitions used and their size.
Payloads and use
The Beluga is equipped with 151 66mm caliber sub-munitions (approximately 1.5kg each). These rounds are ejected from the sides of the bomb when fired.
There are three types of ammunition: anti-tank ammunition capable of penetrating high armor, fragmentation ammunition for lightly armored targets, and interdiction ammunition designed to destroy runways and terrain and capable of exploding after several hours.
The bomb, once dropped, begins to spin on itself, dropping the sub-munitions in successive waves in order to disperse them as much as possible (see video at the end of the topic)
Aircraft and loads
The Belouga bomb can therefore be used by French Air Force aircraft. Here are the possible payloads:
- Mirage 5: maximum payload of 3 bombs (1 per underwing hardpoint and one under the belly).
- Jaguar: maximum payload of 4 bombs (1 per underwing hardpoint).
- Mirage F1: maximum payload of 4 bombs (1 per underwing hardpoint).
- Mirage 2000: maximum payload of 7 bombs (1 per hardpoint except for the wingtip hardpoints).
In-game this weapon would be interesting to add with the cluster weapons of other countries because it is the French cluster bomb whose operation and damage are most similar to those of other countries. In addition, this bomb has the advantage of being equippable on a large number of aircraft of the French army.
Sources
Projet de loi autorisant la ratification de la convention sur les armes à sous-munitions - Sénat
https://imagesdefense.gouv.fr/fr/operation-daguet-al-ahsa-17-janvier-1991-1re-mission-des-jaguar-tour-de-controle-retour-de-mission.html
https://www.traditions-air.fr/texte/documents_pdf/Armement_aerien.pdf
Matra-Thomson-CSF BLG-66 Belouga
17 janvier 1991 ; attaque du terrain d’Al Jaber | 11 ème Escadre de chasse
N° 2640 - Proposition de loi de M. Georges Hage visant à compléter le dispositif d'interdiction des mines antipersonnel
https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sousmunitions.fr%2Ffileadmin%2Fimages%2Factualites%2FInterventionGBSCELLOS.pdf%2Findex.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/submunitions.pdf