Exact data is hard to obtain one site on explosive munitions reckons the lethal radius of a standard 2,000-pound bomb is some 1,200 feet, which corresponds closely with the figure given by arms control group PAX. However, the test results, as stated seem unimpressive, with the fragments stated to be effective at distances “in excess of 225 feet.” As you can imagine, that’s no improvement over the current 2,000-pound bomb. This allows it to be detonated at an altitude which can be set before launch, allowing the pilot to control the area affected, with greater heights giving a larger but less intense shrapnel field.Īccording to a USAF spokesman, the tests, which involved seven F-16 missions dropping a total of ten bombs, showed the weapon “would be very effective against light vehicles, light structures, and personnel.” Rather than a lit time fuse like Shrapnel’s shell, the Next Generation Area Attack Weapon has a high-tech height-of-burst sensor. These days computer models calculate an optimized ‘fragment field,’ and the exact size, number and arrangement of the cubes in the fragmentation packs will be important to ensuring their effectiveness. While Henry Shrapnel used round musket balls, some modern bombs, like the new Next Generation Area Attack Weapon, use cube-shaped shrapnel, which are cheaper and apparently more effective at causing injuries. It was kept secret for some time but the design was soon copied and became universal, and ‘shrapnel’ became a generic term for any bomb fragment. The new weapon was adopted by the British in 1803 and became known as the Shrapnel Shell. If timed properly the shell exploded in the air above the enemy, delivering a lethal rain of musket balls in addition to shell fragments. His 1784 invention was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with gunpowder and musket balls, with a basic fuse. Shrapnel wanted to produce more damage against close-packed troops at long range. In Shrapnel’s day there were two sorts of artillery projectile, cannister, which burst on firing, turning the cannon into a giant shotgun, and solid cannonballs. The packs are a direct descendent of a concept devised over two centuries ago by Henry Shrapnel, then a Lieutenant in Britain’s Royal Artillery.
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