1,000-pound VB-1 "Azon" Air-to-Surface Missile

Body diameter, inches

Warhead

Fuzing

Nose

Tail

M167

Construction: The VB-1 is a guided bomb employing a 1000-pound G.P. body to which a special tail unit has been attached, replacing the standard tail assembly. The VB stands for "Vertical Bomb" and indicates that the bomb is normally released from high al-titude by use of a conventional bombsight and that the guided action for the bomb is re-latively small, so that direction of the trajectory at the time of impact is essentially ver-tical.

Tail unit: More popularly known as the "Azon" bomb, since it can be controlled only in azimuth 2,000 to 3,000 feet on either side of the normal point of impact, the VB-1 has its controls in a radio receiver housed in the tail unit. A radio transmitter, operated by the bombardier in the parent aircraft, sends signals to the receiver, which, in turn, acti-vates a servo motor controlling the movement of the rudders in the tail fins. Also incor-porated in the tail is a gyro and solenoid system which prevents the bomb from spinning by changing the pitch of the small airerons in the fins.

Guide flares attached to the after end of the tail unit assist the bombardier in follow-ing the filght of the VB-1. Three flares, the T6E1 (white, T7E1 (red), and T8E1 (green) with an intensity of 1,000,000 candlepower each, are electrically armed and ignited three to four seconds after release, and burn from one to two minutes. Three mechanically ar-med and ignited flares, T21, T22, and T23 are under development.

Suspension: Suspension lugs are welded to the case in a manner similar to the G.P. bombs.

Figure 386. VB-1 "Azon"