Vietnam produces smart bombs and timed bullets

With the great strides made by the domestic defense industry, it is not surprising to know that Vietnam has plans to produce smart bombs and timed bullets.

In an article about the achievements of the Air Defense - Air Force Technical Institute in recent times, the People's Army Online Newspaper revealed some research directions for manufacturing new weapons products made in Vietnam in the near future.

"In the coming time, the institute's development strategy will focus on researching, designing, and manufacturing key, strong products, such as: Continuing to test new types of radar (3D phased array radar); developing unmanned aircraft for military training and other economic and social purposes; researching and manufacturing solid rocket fuel; improving conventional bombs into smart bombs; designing and manufacturing short-range missile complexes using P-13M aviation missiles...", the People's Army Newspaper reported.

100mm mortar in the Vietnamese army.

This is clearly a good sign for the Vietnamese military and defense industry. However, before posting this information, Vietnam had successfully produced an electronic time fuse for 100mm mortar shells. The type of shell used for 100mm mortars is produced by Vietnam itself. This content was mentioned in the report "Electronic time fuse for mortar shells" recently broadcast on People's Army Television.

A timed fuse is a type of fuse that detonates a warhead at a certain point in the trajectory of the bullet according to a predetermined time. Currently, there are three common types of fuses in the world: timed fuses using combustible powder, mechanical timed fuses and electronic timed fuses.

In which, electronic timer fuse is a fuse that uses electronic circuits to set the explosion time, it has high accuracy in working time, wide adjustment range. This type of fuse has many advantages over traditional mechanical fuse.

For example, for mother-child bullets (bullets containing many sub-bullets), if using a mechanical timer, the detonation time cannot guarantee accuracy. With an electronic timer, it can help detonate accurately, the mother bullet spreads the sub-bullets to the desired location, ensuring the destruction of the target.

According to the staff of the Weapons Institute, the basic model of an electronic timed detonator includes: The mechanical part uses a safety mechanism with a combined vertical inertia pin and a horizontal pin. When storing the detonator, there is also a pin to hold the inertia pin, this safety pin is pulled out by the gunner before firing. The detonator is also equipped with a group of inertia switches to detonate the detonator when the electronic circuit is not working.

The electronic circuit uses the PIC16F628 microprocessor IC and is arranged on a circuit board with a data input port. Everything is poured into a solid block with silicon glue, and data is loaded directly from specialized devices via coaxial cables to the receiving port on the circuit board.

And the power supply for the fuse circuit is a battery that meets the requirements of durability, long-term storage as well as use. The battery uses lithium CR2 with long life, compact size, large capacity, voltage suitable for the working requirements of the fuse circuit and can withstand large acceleration when firing.

The fuse circuit ensures the following factors: the circuit board is compact in size, with enough space in the fuse; the circuit board is durable enough for storage as well as when firing; time data is saved when not powered; time data is loaded directly from the charger via the jack; the fuse circuit after manufacturing is tested according to regulations.

After completion and testing, the Weapons Institute successfully test-fired a 100mm cassette mortar shell using an electronic timer, and the shell exploded exactly at the initially set time.

The research topic of electronic time fuse for 100mm mortar shells cassette is a topic that guides the projects of manufacturing time fuses that will be deployed in the next few years such as designing electronic time fuses for rocket artillery shells and other types of artillery shells.

According to Baodatviet