homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Air Combat Maneuvers & Tactics HARB

Sorry guys,

First post over here! ,and direct a difficult question???

I try to find something about HARB (high altitude release bomb) it has something to do with an A2G attack!

Can someone explain, what it is??

Do you mean "Level bombing" Gideon ?

That is the funny thing about it! I don't know if it is level bombing or dive bombing.
As I see now, I think it has something to do with dive bombing, from a wheel above the target area, but I am not sure.

What do you want to know about this?

Hi ANdy,

Maybe you can help me out?

I am flying the F16 in Falcon4, and I want to do it 'as real as it gets'.
Looking at the various manuals: MULTI-COMMAND INSTRUCTION 11-F16 vol 3 and 5, you can find a lot of info about all kinds of attacks A2A and A2G. What these manuals doesn't explain is how you do HARB and HADB bombing, which parameters you have to take in consideration etc etc
I know that, at the moment, most of the A2G attacks are made from medium or high altitude. HARB and HADB delivery's are some of those attacks, which are not explained, so if you can help me on this, that would be super!!

The principles behind A2G attacks are the same regardless of release altitude. High Altitude Dive Bomb (HADB) is nothing new...the primary reason for this tactic is to avoid AAA. I'm not sure what HARB is...not familiar with that term.

These days, HADB release procedures will depend on the type of weapon being dropped. Terminal guidance weapons do not require precise aiming, and as a result, the dive parameters can vary somewhat.

If the F-16 pilot is dropping 'dumb bombs', the story is different. He must be more precise in his control of dive angle, airspeed, and release altitude, even when using the HUD computed delivery cues. If these cues (CCRP, CCIP)are not available, then the pilot must be exactly on his planned parameters to get a hit.

The roll in and setting of the initial manual dive path is more difficult when at high altitude because of the pilot's inability to estimate where to initially aim the gunsight. Also, the problem of wind effect may be more of a problem since the bomb takes longer to fall. This is particularly true if the weapon is of a high drag type.

We have some A2G articles on basic weapons delivery in our A2G library. The techniques and lessons in these articles will be just as valuable for high altitude work as any other.

Andy,

I have read all your articles from the day they were released, and they are very valuable to use.

If you could push some buttons with your connections! I hope you can answer my original question about HARB!!

Thx

Gideon

I am trying to find a reference for the term HARB. So far, no luck. Where did you come across this term?

I've just heard from a guy in the hog community...he thinks the term refers to releases above 10,000'AGL...limited to terminally guided or computer released weapons only (no traditional manual deliveries).

Hi Andy,

This is from the MULTI-COMMAND INSTRUCTION 11-F16 vol 5

5.8.3. High Altitude Release Bomb (HARB) and High Altitude Dive Bomb (HADB)
HARB and HADB are deliveries from medium or high altitude preferably using 30� or steeper dive.
Roll-in altitude is typically achieved from a high altitude ingress. Problems associated with HARB and
HADB include high crosswinds, lateral miss bomb release inhibit (if using CCRP), delay cues, and high G
releases due to delay cues. In addition, weapons effects may vary greatly from those expected at lower
release altitudes. Increased slant ranges, longer radar ranging, and high transonic release airspeeds all
result in unpredictable bomb separation effects, cluster munition patterns and unpredictable weapon
impact points. Above 15,000 feet AGL, GPS equipped aircraft with a high navigation system status and
accurate target coordinates, should consider dropping in CCRP in order to minimize visual aiming errors.
When dropping GP bombs, release intervals should be at the minimum, due to increase bomb time of fall,
long release intervals, and separation effects. For cluster bombs, use the lowest HOB compatible with the
ordnance and desired weapons effects to minimize dispersion of submunitions due to wind effects.
Advantages:
� Increased bomb impact angle and penetration.
� Increased time for target acquisition.
� Recoveries may be accomplished above small arms/light AAA threats.
Disadvantages:
� Increased exposure to SAM and air-to-air threats.
� Unpredictable weapons effects.
� Decreased accuracy with free fall munitions; especially CBU.
� Difficult to maintain visual mutual support during recovery and egress due to large altitude changes.

The thing about releases above 10000 AGL sounds familiar, but I thought that it was a too easy answer.

Hmmmm, this might be a NATO term. I'm sure HARB is not in 3-1 volumes. I could be wrong, but I've never seen it in any of them.

More info:

It's all based on altitude above which you plan to recover. For HADBs it's 4,500 ft AGL; for HARBs, it's 10K AGL. GP bombs released from a HARB could be from a level or dive toss.

Thx,

Got the same info from another source (also pilot)

Happy landings.

Andy,

A quick question: If HARB = High Angle Release Bomb! Why can HARB be done from level flight or Dive Toss???

Not sure...I think the idea is that the release from above 10,000' may be from a level or dive delivery...whereas a HADB release is only from a dive.

Dive Toss is an automated release concept...the actual aircraft attitude (dive or level) at release is irrelevant to the release altitude.