coudl british bombs be mated onto russian pylons?

By: eodda - 2nd July 2007 at 18:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Re dropping BL755 off a MiG23. The BL755 had provision for twin suspension lugs at 10 inches/250 mm (Russian spacing) and at 355 mm/14 inches (NATO spacing) - it also had provison for a single lug for pre-1970s vintage British aircraft, so the BL755 could easily be carried on a MiG23. The different spacing of lugs were fitted to suit the carriage aircraft. The only other thing required would be suitable fuzing/arming units/strongpoints on the aircraft for the two arming lanyards and the electrical connector.

Although technically feasible, it's not a simple job to adapt either the aircraft pylon or the bomb for Russian or NATO weapons. As far as the bombs go they would have to be manufactured with both Russian and NATO suspension lug pockets and suitable arrangements would also have to be made for the various special-to-type interface connections between the bomb and the aircraft. The alternative would be a cumbersome adapter plate which would affect the ballistics of the bomb.

As far as adapting the aircraft pylons is concerned it would be a case of fitting a release unit that would interface with the various weapons. That could mean fitting a suitable release unit according to the bomb - e.g. Russian today, NATO tomorrow. That would mean that the different units would have to interface with the pylons for mounting and electrical connections. The alternative would be to fit one type of release unit that was capable of carrying both - i.e. it had suspension hooks at 250 and 355 mm. I only know of one example of that type of unit and it was used by the Indian AF for obvious reasons.

By: EdLaw - 3rd July 2007 at 18:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

If memory serves, the Finnish AF used a mix, and had hardpoints for this sort of purpose. Fundamentally, it's not all that complicated, just not something everyone needs.