That bomb in the car has 10 fins. I haven't seen one like that ... presumably the nose is buried in the tire and obscured... However the old 2" mortar bomb had a flat nose and was shipped with a steel safety cap that was unthreaded (which exposed a softer thin brass flat cap) prior to firing ... I wonder if we are seeing a bomb that was designed with a similar flat detonator and someone fired it without removing the steel safety cap.
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
That bomb in the car has 10 fins. I haven't seen one like that ... presumably the nose is buried in the tire and obscured... However the old 2" mortar bomb had a flat nose and was shipped with a steel safety cap that was unthreaded (which exposed a softer thin brass flat cap) prior to firing ... I wonder if we are seeing a bomb that was designed with a similar flat detonator and someone fired it without removing the steel safety cap.
I would tend to think so too, especially as some Russian and Chinese mortar bombs do have 10 fins. The US/NATO markings for a HE bomb (olive drab with a yellow band), however, seem unusual for a Russian bomb.
Both Soviet and Chinese HE mortar bombs have yellow lettering and usually a painted yellow band, as in the pic.
There's a very good chance that bomb is Chinese
Russian HE mortar bombs tend to be painted gray, silver or black, with black markings. The Russian 120mm OF-843B, for example (with 10 fins), and the 82mm O-832 frag bomb (with 10 fins.) Some Chinese 82mm and 120mm HE mortar bombs are olive drab, but tend to lack the yellow band.
Changed your mind from Russian?
Ok, my experience with them, is 50+ years old.
I saw both Chinese, Bulgarian and Russian mortar bombs.
The Russian bombs came in two different colors of base paint. Dull gray and the same olive drab as seen in the pic.
The Chinese bombs were all olive drab and usually had a yellow band with black or yellow lettering.
They also had a pull ring, attached to a pin, which was used to arm the detonator fuze.
The Bulgarian bombs were gray and had black lettering. Identical to a grenade ring/pin
I didn't handle them much, but some of the fellows picked a few up to make mines out of. They were just to heavy to carry under the conditions we were in.
To me, there isn't any lettering to signify the language/manufacturer but that yellow band is very familiar. The paint is quite bright and shows up well, even in dim light.
Last edited:
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
screw it, I would be walking away.
it may not have detonated on impact but the self destruct might still be active, or its just waiting for a little bump to set it off.
Job for EOD
Oh and BiP it
Yes, the yellow band is quite common as a US/NATO marking. It is considerably less common with Russian or Chinese munitions. Russian HE and fragmentation munitions, for example, often have no colour bands at all.
screw it, I would be walking away. it may not have detonated on impact but the self destruct might still be active, or its just waiting for a little bump to set it off. Job for EOD Oh and BiP it
Yep, that's probably exactly what they would do, and not bother with any effort at disarming it.
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
hell is some places you get the local 12Yo to put down their AK and go pull that out.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Historic Photographs
Ahmad Shah Massoud with his fighters. He won against all nine Soviet campaigns against him. He spearheaded the seizer of Kabul and fought against Hekmatyar during the Civil War. He would later resist against the Talban until he was assassinated two days before 9/11 by Al Qaeda
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-...oud-vows-resistance-seeks-support-2021-08-19/
Last edited:
