Message posted by Fuel fraction on April 24, 2002 at 19:54:45 PST:
(oops... my message posted itself twice...). Here is the additional info i found on HGV: The Lockheed HGV is also known as AXE. The system was used to dispense a cluster of non-nuclear submunitions over a target (exemple, an airfield). Vehicule was listed as being 45 feet long (my calculation of the dimensions of HGV based on the X-15 pylon make it more accurate, at 45.96 '). I quote: -Ballistic Offensive Suppression System (BOSS). (on the drawing, we see the HGV/small booster configuration, obviously, this is the version carried by the B-52 bomber, contradicting a bit the text. But, the range given by the text also contrasts witht the range that was given Wolfbane as being 5,000 miles (350 nautical miles here in my document). I also recently found another proof that the vehicule was flown, as i found someone who worked on this program. I have done a bit of research on Ribblet Tape also. I found out that 3M does not show it on it's web site. I could not find it anywhere (nor a sample). I found that they do not offer it for sale to the public, because, the tape was too expensive and too difficult to manufacture for wide public consumption.
The total weight of the vehicule is given by Lockheed as being 58,000 lbs.
-Clustered Airfield Defeat Munition (CADM), CADM is a submunition and dispensing system that can disable airfield runaways and destroy bunkers ane buried stores. It was successfully demonstrated to the Air Force Armament Laboratory in 1978. One version of the CADM weapon consist of 36 simple kinetic-energy penetrators containing high explosives which are ejected from an LMSC-developed explosive dispensing device. This controlled pattern of submunitions penetrates runaways and detonates under the surfaces at optimum damaage depth, producing effective cratering to make the runaway unusable.
Each submunition can penetrate 12 inches of reinforced concrete; penetration sets off a six pound explosive charge which blows a large hole in the runway. One submunition is capable of tearing up a 12,000 lbs slab of concrete; with 36 submunitions in each CADM assembly, the weapons has formidable destructive capability.
An ongoing effort begun in 1979 is the definition of a BOSS to deliver large quantities of penetrator munitions against ennemy airfields. The system uses a large surface-to-surface missile with a CADM warhead to destroy runaways. Each missile could deliver an 18,000 lbs payload to a distance of 350 nautical miles. One BOSS could inflict 200 to 300 craters in a runaway. The all-weather BOSS, using existing technology and hardware, could be operational in the mid-1980's. The Air Force now calls this weapon concept AXE.
(that was dated Spring 1980).
The only applications having been aerospace, and competition sports.
I keep finding exemples of the later (the Canadian female swimmer team used these in 1997, at least, a variant of it). Speed skaters did use it too.
Even kayakers.
Steve.
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