The U.S. Air Force's 96th Test Wing successfully launched a new GBU-72 ground-penetrating navigation bomb weighing 5,000 pounds with the F- 15E Attack Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida for the first time, which marked that the U.S. ground-penetrating missile entered a new era of tactical aircraft. What are the characteristics of GBU-72, a new member of the US Army Earth Penetrating Bomb family? What strategic needs does it reflect for the US military?
Kit upgrade, technical breakthrough
In order to effectively destroy the underground missile silo of the Soviet Union, as early as the 1960s, the United States began the research on earth-penetrating bombs. During the Gulf War, the GBU-28 earth-penetrating bomb urgently developed by the US military played an important role in attacking underground fortifications in Iraq, attracting worldwide attention. After that, the US military greatly accelerated the research and development of earth-penetrating bombs, and successively developed a series of earth-penetrating bombs such as GBU-37, Egbu -27, GBU-3 1 and GBU-57.
As the newest member of the U.S. Army Earth-Penetrating Bomb family, GBU-72 will replace GBU-28, which once weighed 5,000 pounds, and become a new generation of Earth-Penetrating Bomb, whose destruction capacity is between the improved GBU-3 1/B and the 30,000-pound GBU-57/B massive ordnance penetrator (MOP). According to the report of the U.S. military, GBU-72 has used many innovative ideas and new technologies in its design and experiment: in terms of modeling performance, the appearance of GBU-72 is similar to that of GBU-3 1/B of 2000-pound class according to the video materials released by the U.S. military.
However, it is larger in size and equipped with side strips to improve the flight performance of the bomb. At the same time, it also uses accessories similar to the Joint Direct Attack Ammunition (JDAM) tail kit for guidance. Due to confidentiality, the operational performance of GBU-72 is not disclosed. However, judging from the fact that GBU-72 will replace GBU-28 in the future, the combat capability of GBU-72 should be better than that of GBU-28. According to related news, GBU-28 can penetrate 30 meters of soil or 6 meters of concrete. It can be speculated that GBU-72 will be more powerful than it.
In the aspect of navigation control, GBU-72 used the upgraded Joint Direct Attack Ammunition (JDAM) tail kit for navigation control in this test. The modified kit was jointly developed by Boeing for the US Navy and Air Force. After the missile without guidance capability is assembled on the traditional bomb dropped by the plane, the guidance capability can be obtained. Through GPS global positioning system and inertial navigation system, the accessory can be used normally under all-weather conditions, providing accurate guidance capability for aircraft bombs.
In terms of design ideas and methods, GBU-72 is also different from the past, using data engineering technology as an aid, which greatly improves the research efficiency. James Culliton, the project manager of GBU-72, revealed that the prediction efficiency of the bomb was simulated by using advanced modeling and simulation technology during design. This method makes the early prototype more representative, will greatly speed up the progress of prototype testing and improvement, and make new weapons put into use faster.
During the experiment, the experimental task planner and crew also ensured the smooth delivery of weapons and successfully completed the experimental task by creating new procedures and rapid adjustment. The success of GBU-72 test verifies the superiority of this method from modeling and simulation to design, and provides a replicable example for the research and design of weapons.
Satellite guidance, flexible and versatile
Unlike GBU-28 which uses laser guidance, GBU-72 uses GPS and inertial navigation system. For laser-guided GBU-28, the carrier plane needs to irradiate the target with laser all the time after dropping the bomb to complete the guidance. This will not only increase the risk of fighter planes being shot down by ground air defense weapons, but also be easily disturbed by bad weather such as clouds and rain and battlefield environment such as smoke, thus affecting the bombing effect. The addition of GBU-72 will enable the US Air Force to overcome the influence of bad weather and attack the enemy's underground targets under all-weather conditions.
In addition, the use of strake wings makes the range of GBU-72 longer, which means that the launch platform can launch an attack at a position farther away from the target, which will effectively improve the battlefield survivability of the fighter.
In addition, compared with the GBU-57/B earth-penetrating projectile with the strongest earth-penetrating ability in the United States, the GBU-72 is more flexible and light. GBU-57/B weighs 30,000 pounds and can only be carried by large bombers such as B-2A stealth bomber and B-52H long-range bomber. The GBU-72 designed for fighters and bombers weighs only 5,000 pounds. According to the bomb load of F- 15E "Attack Eagle", it can carry up to 3 GBU-72s. Moreover, most tactical aircraft of the US military can carry this bomb, which makes the deployment of GBU-72 more flexible and can efficiently complete the task of attacking underground targets.
Strengthen deterrence and incite the situation
After entering the 2 1 century, the protective measures of underground nuclear facilities in Iran and North Korea have been continuously improved, and the US military urgently needs to improve its ability to attack underground facilities in order to maintain the overwhelming advantage of the United States in relevant regions. In order to effectively curb the progress of Iran's nuclear test research and maintain the deterrence of the United States in the Middle East, the US military has continuously strengthened its air-ground forces in the Middle East. In 20 18 alone, the US military delivered more than 3,000 missiles to the fifth military base in Bahrain. In order to enhance the ability of the US Air Force to attack Iran's underground nuclear facilities, the US Air Force spent $36 million to buy 12 GBU-72 bombs in 2022.
GBU-72 has also become an important means for the United States to contain potential competitors in the region: North Korea exhibited a variety of new weapons including "Mars -8" hypersonic missiles and new intercontinental missiles at the opening ceremony of its national defense development exhibition.
Iran also held a large-scale annual air defense exercise called "Sky Guardian-1400" with the slogan "National Defense Authority, Air Safety", aiming at strengthening the air defense capability of the Iranian armed forces and enhancing their ability to respond to sudden threats. However, the US military chose to report the ground-penetrating bomb test on June+10/October 12, 65438, which played a warning and deterrent role. Coincidentally, when the situation in the Persian Gulf was tense on 20 18, the US Air Force released a high-definition short film in which a B-2 stealth bomber dropped GBU-57 from massive ordnance penetrator to convey pressure to Iran.
In addition, GBU-72 will become a new bargaining chip for the United States in the international game, which will help it further stir up the regional situation: the US Air Force said that the additional flight test of this earth-penetrating bomb will continue until 2022 to further test the flight data and operational performance of GBU-72. It is worth noting that Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea all expressed their willingness to use this weapon. Whether or not to provide sales of this weapon to the above-mentioned countries will become an important bargaining chip for the United States to negotiate with Iran and North Korea in the future.
Sun Tzu's Art of War points out that a good defender hides under nine places, while a good attacker moves above nine days. In modern air raid operations, the ground of the defensive side constantly strengthens its air defense forces, and at the same time constantly improves its underground fortifications.
In the case that the "shield" of the defensive side is constantly reinforced, the offensive side needs a sharper "spear" to confront it. The appearance of GBU-72 well meets the needs of the US military to attack underground hard targets, enhances its ability to attack underground targets, and provides a material basis for the US military to maintain its overwhelming advantage in the game with North Korea and Iran.