The Mysterious Inivisible Skyspot Bomb. What is it?

[jomni]

Some have asked the question on what is Skyspot and why it doesn't have a lod in the weapons pack.

 

Made some search and this is what I got:

Strategic Air Command was using a rather simple, and accurate, method of testing the bombing skills of SAC aircrews. This method involved no real bombs. It involved tracking the bomber with what was essentially a modified gun-laying radar, plotting the aircraft track on paper. The bomber crew would signal the point at which the simulated bomb was released. Though a voice indication would work, usually the release point was logged by means of an electronic tone that was turned on some seconds prior to simulated release, and then turned off at the release, causing a break in the recorded track of the aircraft.

 

http://combat-skyspo...pod.com/CSS.htm

http://testvector.com/SkySpot.html

 

So it's not a bomb but ground radar tracking system used for testing and scoring pilot bomb release accuracy. This explains why there's no lod file. The only difference is that these virtual bombs explode and do damage.

 

 

Intersetingly they used the system for real bombing as well by reversing the process. The radar tracks the location of the bomber and will send a signal on when it is best to drop the bomb. This is called Combat Skyspot (Usually used on B-52s)

Edited March 17, 2010 by jomni