Matra and SNEB Rocket Pods

[Mossie]

Yeah, it's hard to tell from the pic but that pylon might actually be carrying two Matra pods.  Saudi & Kuwaiti aircraft were configured for ground attack & had quite a good capability.  It was thought to be very capable in the mud moving role, in fact some thought the RAF missed an oppurtunity.  There's a weapons diagram in book I've got, I'll try & scan it tonight.

Slightly off topic, but believe it or not, Lightnings could carry bombs on the overwing pylons.  A small charge would blow them clear of the aircraft.

There's quite a bit of info on the Saudi & Kuwaiti Lightnings on the Air Vectors entry, have a look at section 7.  Some whiff fodder there, especially the bit about Lightning F.3B's offered to the RAF.
http://www.vectorsite.net/aveeltg.html#m7

Here's a clearer pic of a Saudi Lightning with those Matra 155's on outer wing pylons:

[ChernayaAkula]

And a Lightning with twin mounted overwing JL-100's.  Wasn't sure about the roundel at first, but now I realise it's the symbol for the Queens Award!

But am I imagining things, does that look like a pylon under the wings near the wing tip with another rocket pod on it ?

Wooohoo! Been looking for an actual pic of those for ages!  

I'm a big fan of Gekko's "Lightnings over Burkina Faso" story and I hope to build one fitted out for ground attack with lots of SNEB pods one day. 8 SNEB pods (or 4 SNEBs and 4 Hunting BL.755s) and two ADENs should seriously wreck someone's day.

<...> There's a weapons diagram in book I've got, I'll try & scan it tonight. <...>

That wouldn't happen to be this book, now, would it?

[Mossie]

Good guess!   There are plenty more Matra launchers in there too.

[Mossie]

Wooohoo! Been looking for an actual pic of those for ages!   

I'm a big fan of Gekko's "Lightnings over Burkina Faso" story and I hope to build one fitted out for ground attack with lots os SNEB pods one day. 8 NEB pods (or 4 SNEBs and 4 Hunting BL.755s) and two ADENs should seroiously wreck someone's day.

Another bonus with the Lightning is that you could replace the Red Top provision with the microcell rocket pack in the nose (just visible in the pic), that's a total of 10 rocket packs & 192 rockets, along with the cannon!   PS, Odds & Ordanace in the UK do a resin set for the JL-100's.

Here's the scans from Modern Air Combat, there are quite a few diagrams of Matra rocket pods, the depictions & descriptions sometimes vary a little & some are even wrong, but they're a good guide.  I've described the weapons exactly as they appear in the book:


9 Overwing pylon with twin store adapter carrying two JL-100 pods each comprising an 18 rocket launcher (see item 10) in front of a 50gal (227lit) tank.
10 Matra launcher Type 155 each for 18 rockets of standard SNEB 68mm calibre; the outer pylon is shown with adapters for a pair of such launchers.
12 Microcell rocket launcher, which in earlier marks was a common alternative to the AAM instalation.  Made of glassfibre, it's two hinged sections each house 14 (24 in the diagram) rockets of 50.8mm calibre.


27 Matra 155 rocket launcher
33 SNEB 68mm rocket
34 SNEB or Thomson-Brandt 100mm rocket
35 Thomson-Brandt LR 100-6 launcher (six x 100mm)
36 Thomson-Brandt LR 100-4 launcher
37 Matra RL F2 Launcher (six 68mm)


24 Practice bomb
25 Practice bomb & rocket carrier (Pretty sure this the CEM-1 Weaver posted earlier)

[kitnut617]

In it's original intercepter role, the fuselage un-guided rocket pack was to be used, the two 30mm were mounted above the intake and then the two guided missiles mounted on the sides.  I've seen a picture a long time ago showing Matra pods on these guided missile pylons but do you think I can find it now.  Mind you it could have been in a long gone RAF Year Book I had.

[Weaver]

In it's original intercepter role, the fuselage un-guided rocket pack was to be used, the two 30mm were mounted above the intake and then the two guided missiles mounted on the sides.  I've seen a picture a long time ago showing Matra pods on these guided missile pylons but do you think I can find it now.  Mind you it could have been in a long gone RAF Year Book I had.

The choice was rocket pack OR missiles, but not both: the rocket pack sat in the same section of the lower front fuselage that the missile avionics pack occupied, and to which the pylons were attached.

[rickshaw]

Just came across by chance, this rather excellent picture of a SAAF Mirage III with a JL100 combination fuel/rocket pod on the ground beside it:

[PR19_Kit]

Ahah, I always wondered what happened to the exhaust plumes when the rockets were fired with one of those! Now I can see the canted ducts that divert them out past the fuel tank bit.

Well spotted.

[rickshaw]

You wouldn't want a fuel leak in the tank, would you?  Its the first close up picture I've seen of one.  Found it purely by chance looking for something else.   

[PR19_Kit]

You wouldn't want a fuel leak in the tank, would you?  Its the first close up picture I've seen of one.  Found it purely by chance looking for something else.   

Gawd NO! I suspect SOP is to use the fuel in those tanks before you get anywhere near the target. Then if it does brew up you can drop the whole shebang, maybe on the target too....... 

[Weaver]

They should have gone for broke and fitted a Matra pod to the nose of one of those combined fuel tank/bomb rack pods........

[ChernayaAkula]

"In action" shot of the above:



SOURCE

[rickshaw]

Interesting the different burn out rates on the rockets.  The ones from the launcher under the port wing have already finished burning while the ones on the right, at roughly comparable distances haven't.   Tends to suggest that the powder mixture and burning rate was very variable - resulting in a pretty wild dispersion on target.

[Weaver]

You see some pics where the rockets are going all over the place: the combination of manufacturing variation plus the complex turbulence in the middle of salvo means that dispersion can be pretty large.

[PR19_Kit]

Sort of rocket powered shrapnel then?