Azon

AZON
AZON, the first smart bomb developed by the United States.
Type	Smart bombs
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1944
Used by	United States (Allies)
Wars	World War II
Specifications
Weight	1,000 pounds (450 kg)
Operational range	5,000 feet (1,500 m)
Guidance system	MCLOS radio control system

AZON ("AZimuth ONly") was one of the world's first smart bombs, deployed by the Allies and contemporary with the German Fritz X.

Officially designated VB-1 ("Vertical Bomb 1"), it was invented by Major Henry J. Rand and Thomas J. O'Donnell during the latter stages of World War II, as the answer to the difficult problem of destroying the narrow wooden bridges that supported much of the Burma Railway.

AZON was essentially a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb with an octagonal ring-style radio controlled tail fin design, allowing adjustment of the vertical trajectory in two planes, making basically a guided fall. There were gyroscopes mounted in the bomb to stabilise it, and a radio control system, which had about three minutes of battery life, long enough to guide it from a 5,000 foot (1,500 m) drop height. On the tail of the bomb was a 600,000 candela flare, to enable the pilot to observe it from the control aircraft. It was dropped from a modified Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Only ten crews, of the 458th Bombardment Group, based at RAF Horsham St Faith, were trained to drop the device.

Azon operations

Azon Operations by Eighth Air Force, June–September 1944

Target	Date	Result
Melun	June 8, 1944	Mission 400: an attack on the Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds.
Ham-sur-Somme	June 14, 1944	Mission 412: 7 of 15 B-24s hit the Ham-sur-Somme Bridge and 5 use Azon bombs against targets of opportunity; no losses.
Etaples	June 15, 1944	Mission 414: 12 B-24s use Azon bombs against Etaples railroad bridge and 7 others use the bombs against the Pecrone railroad bridge.
Saumur	June 22, 1944	Mission 432: 9 of 10 B-24s use Azon bombs against the Saumur Bridge.
Les Foulous	August 17, 1944	Mission 558: 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop Azon bombs on the Les Foulous, France rail bridge but the mission is abandoned due to deteriorating weather.
Moerdijk	August 25 & 26, 1944	Mission 571: 10 of 10 B-24s fly an Azon bomb mission to Moerdijk, the Netherlands but the target is missed. Mission 577: 9 of 10 B-24s fly an AZON bomb mission to Moerdijk rail bridge, the Netherlands but clouds prevent an attack.
Ravenstein	September 1, 1944	Mission 597: 12 of 12 Azon-equipped B-24s hit the Ravenstein rail bridge, the Netherlands without loss.
Hemmingstedt & Kropp	September 13, 1944	Mission 629: 6 of 11 B-24s dispatched on an Azon mission attacked the Hemmingstedt oil refinery and 5 hit the secondary target, ammunition dumps at Kropp. Operation Aphrodite guided bombs also attacked Hemmingstedt the next day.

See also

• Fritz X
• Razon
• GB-8
• List of anti-ship missiles

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

• Allied & German guided weapons of WW2
• The Dawn of the Smart Bomb
• Guided weapons of WW2
• GB series weapons