24/04/2022 Ucraina (Україна), Oblast’ di Kiev (Київська область), Kiev (Київ), Bucha (Буча)
“If you ever come across anything suspicious like this item, please do not pick it up, contact your local law enforcement agency for assistance”
An rarely used munition was found following the Russian attack and later withdrawal from Bucha, Ukraine, over the past month of fighting. Residents in the city found small arrows or darts called fléchettes scattered on the ground, a projectile rarely used in modern combat. A woman named Svitlana Chmut from Bucha found these mini-arrows in her yard after Russians had repeatedly shelled their area before they withdrew to focused their invasion on Donbas, The Washington Post reported. Many of these darts punctured the tarp of her vehicle and directly nailed the tarp to her car. They were allegedly fired sometime between March 25 and March 26. But what are these small darts? These fléchettes are steel projectiles with tails much like modern darts. They were previously used in ballistic munitions in World War I, typically as antipersonnel weapons. They were dropped from an aircraft and did not contain explosive charges during that time, relying on just their kinetic energy to pierce through the helmets and other protective gear. Weapon and military enthusiasts alike would remember that the US used these weapons for a time, with the most famous being the Lazy Dog (or a Red Dot Bomb, or a Yellow Dog Bomb). These unguided, kinetic projectiles were used mostly in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. They were also dropped from an aircraft without explosive charges and were used against infantry. Why use them? Well, they were cheap, simple, and quite effective. If it works, why change it, right? These 1.75-inch darts would garner enough kinetic energy to pierce through a person’s helmet, jungle canopy, light armor, and even sand. Plus, you could drop them in the thousands in a single flyby. These fléchettes (now Lazy Dog projectiles) could be employed by any aircraft, dropped by hand, in a bag, or a Mark 44 cluster adaptor (which had a time delay fuze). It reportedly had speeds of 700 feet per second or 480 mph. Some shapes of the dart could even be compared to the firepower of a .50 caliber bullet, to which we say… “Ouch.” Later on, special artillery rounds would be made for 105mm howitzer batteries. Famously known as the “Beehive” anti-personnel round, otherwise known as anti-personnel tracers (APERS-T), these little darts packed a punch! If fired from a 105mm howitzer, the enemy could expect some 8,000 fléchettes flying directly to them. Beehive rounds would also be made for the recoilless anti-tank weapons such as the 90mm and 106mm mounted on the M50 Ontos. APERS-T would also be made for M79, M203, and M320 grenade launchers.
Небрежное обращение с оружием и взрывными устройствами, которые находятся в незаконном обороте, продолжает ежедневно уносить жизни наших граждан», – тогда написал в Facebook замглавы Национальной полиции Украины Вячеслав Аброськин
Dear editors, Biography of a bomb is aimed at highlighting the danger caused by unexploded bombs. Moreover, the most important aspect is that we work completely non profit, raising awerness about this topic is what drives us. We apologize if we make use of pictures in yours articles, but we need them to put a context in how findings are done. We will (and we always do) cite source and author of the picture. We thank you for your comprehension
