Programming circuit for individual bomblets in a cluster bomb

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG.
1, a cluster bomb employing the concepts of the present invention is shown.
The bomb consists of an outer housing or canister 2 which separates into two halves in a conventional manner upon being dropped from an aircraft.
Within the bomb are multiple ranks of bomblets 4 which are stacked in tight packs so that up to several hundred bomblets can be packaged within the outer canister.
A cross-sectional view of one of the stacks of bomblets is illustrated in FIG.
2.
The bomblets 4 are stacked so that they generally conform to the shape of the canister 2, with a foam dunnage bag 8 enclosing the bomblets and separating them from the canister wall.
The axis of separation along which the bomb canister divides into two longitudinal halves when dropped from an aircraft, permitting the bomblets to be released from the canister and dunnage bag and dispersed over an area, is shown by dashed line 10.
A transmission wire 12, which enables communication with and individual programming of each of the bomblets, is wound through the interior of the canister in a serpentine fashion, in and out of the dunnage bag, so that it passes adjacent to each of the bomblets in the stack.
The wire is physically detached from each of the bomblets but, as best illustrated in FIG.
6, actually passes through openings in each of the bomblets to ensure that the wire is maintained in a desired position relative to the bomblets.
Wire 12 is of any suitable form capable of transmitting appropriate signals to the bomblets and of being withdrawn from the bomblets as described hereinafter; in the particular embodiment illustrated the wire is formed from 22-24 gage stranded copper wire with a Teflon coating.
A very long, continuous wire 12 may be used for each of the bomblet stacks, with the wire running longitudinally down the bomb from stack to stack and wound back and forth through the bomblets of each stack, or a bundle of wires may be employed with one wire used for each stack