Unguided Bomb - Retarded Bomb

Retarded Bomb

A special type of gravity bomb is the retarded bomb, which uses a mechanical method of creating increased drag, such as a parachute, ballute, or drag-inducing petals. These deploy after the ordnance is released, slowing its fall and abbreviating its forward trajectory, giving the aircraft time to get clear of the blast zone when bombing from low altitudes or with nuclear ordnance. However, these bombs are less accurate than conventional free-fall bombs. Generally the high-drag tail replaces the low-drag so that the same bomb can be configured for either mode of attack during weapons preparation. High-drag bombs can also be dropped in low-drag mode if the pilot selects this option in the aircraft's weapon system, and will function exactly like a low-drag weapon.