182:, giving the Azon unit a lateral steering capability (meaning it could only steer left and right, and could not alter its pitch or rate of fall). This lack of any pitch control meant that the bombardier still had to accurately release it with a bombsight to ensure it could not fall short of or beyond the target. The "tail package" bolted onto the standard bomb warhead, in place of the usual sheet-metal fixed fins; this concept was an early iteration of a now common method of making modern guided bombs (such as the
432:
206:, and a radio control system to operate the proportional-control rudders, to directly control the bomb's direction of lateral aim, with the antennas for the tail-mounted receiver unit built into the diagonal support struts of the tail surface assembly. The bomb's receiver and control system were powered by a battery which had around three minutes of
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The ability to only control the path of the bomb in the azimuth direction, made AZON bombs most suitable for long and narrow targets, such as bridges or railways. A disadvantage of using an AZON bomb was that after a bomb was dropped the bomber could not break way immediately because the bombardier
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had to keep the bomb in view so he could guide it. The bombardier used a BC-1156 joystick control to adjust the course left or right. The directional commands were sent to the guidance package via a special-purpose radio system.
210:. The entire setup in the added "tail package" was sufficient to guide the weapon from a 5,000-foot (1,500 m) drop height to the target. Situated on the tail of the bomb was a 600,000-
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Mission 629: 6 of 11 B-24s dispatched on an Azon mission attacked the
Hemmingstedt oil refinery and 5 hit the secondary target, ammunition dumps at Kropp.
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Mission 571: 10 of 10 B-24s fly an Azon bomb mission to attack railroad bridge at
Moerdijk, Netherlands but the target is missed by all 40 bombs launched.
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Officially designated VB-1 ("Vertical Bomb 1"), it was invented by Major Henry J. Rand and Thomas J. O'Donnell during the latter stages of
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mounted in the bomb's added tail package that made it an Azon unit, to autonomously stabilize it in the roll axis via operating a pair of
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Mission 414: 12 B-24s use Azon bombs against Étaples railroad bridge and 7 others use the bombs against the
Pecrone railroad bridge.
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design as part of a "tail package" to give the desired guidance capability, allowing adjustment of the vertical trajectory in the
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The bombardier used the joystick on the BC-1156 control lever to adjust the direction of the bomb to the left or right.
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which also left behind a noticeable smoke trail, to enable the bombardier to observe and control it from the control
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Mission 577: a second attempt on the
Moerdijk rail bridge is made with 9 aircraft, but clouds prevent an attack.
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AZON was essentially a 1,000 lb (454 kg) general-purpose AN-M65 bomb with a quadrilateral 4-fin style
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Mission 597: 12 of 12 Azon-equipped B-24s hit the
Ravenstein rail bridge in the Netherlands, without loss.
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as the answer to the difficult problem of destroying the narrow wooden bridges that supported much of the
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Mission 558: 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop Azon bombs on the Les
Foulons rail bridge near
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also dropped Azon bombs in Burma in early 1945 from similarly modified B-24s, based at
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Mission 400: an attack on the Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds.
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Mission 432: 9 of 10 B-24s use Azon bombs against the Saumur Bridge.
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Account of AZON Bomb Use by the 493rd Bomb
Squadron in CBI Theater
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and 5 use Azon bombs against targets of opportunity; no losses.
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USAAF and USN guided air-to-surface ordnance of World War II
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Video account of AZON Use
Against the Burma Railway bridges
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but the mission is abandoned due to deteriorating weather.
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AZON, the first smart bomb developed by the United States.
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Account of AZON Bomb Use by the 458th Bomb Group in ETO
550:"Old China Hands, Tales & Stories – The Azon Bomb"
425:
221:. When used in combat, it was dropped from a modified
497:United States Office of Strategic Services (1943).
314:Mission 412: 7 of 15 B-24s hit the bridge over the
681:Official 1943 USAAF film describing the AZON bomb
237:, were trained to drop the device for use in the
1052:
771:missile and guided bomb designations, 1941–1947
1066:World War II aerial bombs of the United States
446:Bat (U.S. Navy autonomously radar-guided bomb)
198:", making it into a guided weapon. There were
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733:Another video of AZONs in action over Burma
524:"The Azimuth "Smart" Bombs of World War II"
500:WW2: Azon (1943) Radio-Controlled Dive Bomb
760:
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1076:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944
1061:World War II weapons of the United States
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728:WW II video of AZON Bomb Drop over Burma
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229:as the platform. Some ten crews, of the
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522:Frantiska, Joseph Jr. (2018-12-07).
467:control of WW II German PGM ordnance
145:only", was one of the world's first
676:NMUSAF page about the Azon ordnance
13:
623:"8th Air Force Historical Society"
547:
461:Kehl-Strasbourg radio control link
259:
14:
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1071:Guided bombs of the United States
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648:"458th Bombardment Group Website"
273:Azon Operations in Europe by the
153:and contemporary with the German
503:(YouTube). The Digital Implosion
100:VB-2: 2,000 pounds (910 kg)
98:VB-1: 1,000 pounds (450 kg)
29:
576:"8th Air Force 1944 Chronicles"
552:. oldchinahands. Archived from
696:Guided weapons of World War II
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1:
769:United States Army Air Forces
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962:* Design Concepts not Built
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223:Consolidated B-24 Liberator
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691:The Dawn of the Smart Bomb
471:List of anti-ship missiles
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117:5,000 feet (1,500 m)
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51:Place of origin
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231:458th Bombardment Group
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277:, June–September 1944
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582:on September 12, 2007
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254:Pandaveswar Airfield
235:RAF Horsham St Faith
227:B-17 Flying Fortress
132:radio control system
16:American guided bomb
423:Operation Aphrodite
418:September 13, 1944
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250:493rd Bomb Squadron
711:2020-01-06 at the
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401:September 1, 1944
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268:Components of Azon
149:, deployed by the
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141:(or Azon), from "
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578:. Archived from
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526:. Archived from
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388:August 26, 1944
375:August 25, 1944
358:August 17, 1944
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275:Eighth Air Force
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239:European theater
173:radio controlled
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64:In service
59:Service history
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656:. Retrieved
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631:. Retrieved
627:the original
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584:. Retrieved
580:the original
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558:. Retrieved
554:the original
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532:. Retrieved
528:the original
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505:. Retrieved
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410:Hemmingstedt
247:
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208:battery life
190:family, the
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162:World War II
159:
138:
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84:World War II
72:Used by
806:Glide bombs
233:, based at
111:Operational
45:Guided bomb
1055:Categories
658:2012-04-28
633:2011-02-11
586:2007-05-25
534:2019-01-21
477:References
397:Ravenstein
200:gyroscopes
912:Jet bombs
611:September
560:March 20,
196:iron bomb
709:Archived
599:Archived
548:Marion.
440:See also
384:Moerdijk
371:Moerdijk
363:Esternay
354:Esternay
219:aircraft
204:ailerons
192:KAB-500L
180:yaw axis
176:tail fin
123:Guidance
507:21 July
451:Fritz X
328:Étaples
288:Result
282:Target
212:candela
188:Paveway
155:Fritz X
143:azimuth
607:August
463:, for
412:&
341:Saumur
186:, the
151:Allies
125:system
1040:VB-13
1035:VB-12
1030:VB-11
1025:VB-10
957:JB-10
953:JB-9*
945:JB-7*
942:JB-6*
939:JB-5*
884:GB-15
879:GB-14
874:GB-13
869:GB-12
864:GB-11
859:GB-10
465:MCLOS
414:Kropp
316:Somme
294:Melun
285:Date
215:flare
130:MCLOS
113:range
23:AZON
1020:VB-9
1015:VB-8
1010:VB-7
1005:VB-6
1000:VB-5
995:VB-4
990:VB-3
985:VB-2
980:VB-1
949:JB-8
935:JB-4
930:JB-3
925:JB-2
920:JB-1
902:GT-1
854:GB-9
849:GB-8
844:GB-7
839:GB-6
834:GB-5
829:GB-4
824:GB-3
819:GB-2
814:GB-1
796:BG-3
791:BG-2
786:BG-1
596:July
592:June
562:2012
509:2013
456:GB-8
248:The
184:JDAM
139:AZON
95:Mass
80:Wars
67:1944
41:Type
320:Ham
318:at
1057::
609:,
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594:,
485:^
241:.
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761:e
754:t
747:v
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589:.
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511:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
