AZON (AZimuth ONly) was one of the world's first smart bombs, deployed by the Allies and contemporary with the German Fritz X. BOLT-117 laser guided bomb Precision-guided munitions (smart munitions or smart bombs) are self-guiding weapons intended to maximize damage to the target while minimizing collateral damage. Because the damage effects of an explosive weapon scale as a power law with distance, quite modest improvements in accuracy (and hence... The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ... Fritz X was a German air-launched anti-ship missile, deployed during World War II. Fritz X was an allied code-name; alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X. History Development began in 1938. ...

Officially designated VB-1 (Vertical Bomb), 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. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Thailand to Myanmar) by the Japanese during World War II to complete the route from Bangkok to Rangoon and support the Japanese occupation of Burma. ...

AZON was essentially a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb with a radio controlled tail fin 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 feet (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 B-24 Liberator. Only ten crews, of the 458th Heavy Bombardment Group, based at Horsham St Faith, were trained to drop the device. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, also known as Mother Of All Bombs, produced in the United States. ... This radio control airplane is carrying a scale model of X-33 and is taking part in NASA research. ... A gyroscope For other uses, see Gyroscope (disambiguation). ... Four double-A (AA) rechargeable batteries In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. ... The candela (symbol: cd) is the SI base unit of luminous intensity (that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, with wavelengths weighted by the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye). ... A WWI-era parachute flare dropped from aircraft for illumination. ... An Airbus A380, currently the worlds largest airliner An aircraft is any vehicle or craft capable of atmospheric flight. ... A B-24 Liberator photographed from above while in flight The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American bomber that was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft during World War II and was used by most of the Allied air forces during the war. ... Horsham St. ...

AZON crews famously destroyed Bridge 277, the Bridge on the River Kwai, although they used four 1,000 lb conventional bombs from tree-top height, making four direct hits and destroying one concrete pier, along with two of the spans. The Bridge over the River Kwai taken in June 2004. ...

External links

• Azon details and design drawing