Quote:
Originally Posted by Claemore
Saw my first nuclear claymore in Rambo IV last night 
Other than that, I liked the movie. What's the general consensus? |
Your SA must have been on "low speed"
The claymore was set to detonate the "Tall Boy" bomb that was left from the British in Burma.
You clearly see the "Tall Boy" bomb when the mercenary's trek in past it then Rambo set's the claymore next to it in the end sequence. Whether or not it would have detonated is another story, but if a "Tall Boy" bomb where to be detonated, it's going to leave one hell of a big hole in the ground.
The "Tall Boy" bomb was designed to penetrate up to 80 ft deep into the ground with a thermal blast.
The Tall Boy Bomb/Wikipedia
Most large Allied World War II aircraft bombs had very thin skins to maximize the weight of explosive which a bomber could carry—this was an improvement on the early part of the war when the actual HE content of British bomb designs was low. To be able to penetrate the earth (or hardened targets) without breaking apart, the casing of the Tallboy had to be strong. Each was cast in one piece of high tensile steel that would enable it to survive the impact before detonation. At the same time to achieve the penetration required, Wallis designed the Tallboy to be very aerodynamic so that when dropped from a great height it would reach a velocity higher than traditional bomb designs. In the final design the tail of the bomb was about half the overall length of the finished weapon—the bomb casing was some 10 feet (3 m) of the overall 21-foot (6 m) length. Initially the bomb had a tendency to tumble, so the tail was modified—the fins were given a slight twist so that the bomb spun as it fell. The gyroscopic effect thus generated stopped the pitching and yawing, improved the aerodynamics and improved accuracy. The improved design worked so well that it was found in development that it passed through the sound barrier as it fell.[citation needed] When dropped from 20,000 ft (6,100 m) it made a crater 80 feet deep (24 m) and 100 feet (30 m) across and could go through 16 feet (5 m) of concrete.[1]
W. J. Lawrence wrote about the Tallboy bomb in his book, No 5 Bomber Group:[3]
"It was an extraordinary weapon, an apparent contradiction in terms, since it had at one and the same time the explosive force of a large high-capacity blast bomb and the penetrating power of an armour-piercing bomb. On the ground it was capable of displacing a million cubic feet (29,000 m³) of earth and made a crater which it would have taken 5,000 tons of earth to fill. It was ballistically perfect and in consequence had a very high terminal velocity, variously estimated at 3,600 and 3,700 feet (1,100 m) per second (1,100–1,130 m/s or about 2,500 mph / 4,000 km/h), which was, of course, a good deal faster than sound so that, as with the V-2 rocket, the noise of its fall would be heard after that of the explosion."
The weight of the Tallboy (approximately 12,000 lb) and the high altitude required of the bombing aircraft meant that the Lancaster bombers used had to be specially adapted. Armour plating and even defensive armament were removed to reduce weight and the bomb-bay doors had to be adapted. Even then the Lancaster was not capable of reaching the bomb's intended dropping height of 40,000 ft (12,200 m) but only around 25,000 (7,700 m). At the same time No. 617 "Dambusters" Squadron trained in the use of a special bombsight the Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight (SABS). For accuracy multiple corrections had to be made for temperature, wind speed, etc. However it was only effective if the target could be identified and several missions were canceled or unsuccessful because of difficulty in accurately identifying and marking the targets.
Each bomb was a precision-built instrument of war made from expensive materials and carefully finished. They were not considered expendable and if not used on a raid were to be brought back to base rather than safely dropped in the sea.[4] The value of the weapon offset the additional risk to the aircrew.
The Tallboy was used to attack strategic targets that could not be destroyed by other means. When it was found that the Lancaster could be modified to carry a bomb larger than the Tallboy, Wallis produced the even larger Grand Slam bomb.
For use on underground targets, the bomb was fitted with three inertia pistols. These operated a detonator with a 28 second delay which allowed time for the bomb to penetrate to design depth before exploding. Three fuses were always used in order to guarantee detonation.