View source for Matra Durandal

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Matra Durandal
| image              = [[Image:F-111 with Durandal.jpg|border|300px]]
| caption            = An American [[General Dynamics F-111|F-111]] carrying BLU-107 Durandals in December 1981.
| origin             = France
| type               = [[Anti-runway bomb]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged          =
| is_bladed          =
| is_explosive       =
| is_artillery       =
| is_vehicle         =
| is_missile         = "yes"
| is_UK              =
<!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1977–present
| used_by            = United States, France, Israel
| wars               = [[Gulf War|Gulf War (1991)]]
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           =
| design_date        =
| manufacturer       = [[Matra]] (now [[MBDA]])
| unit_cost          =
| production_date    =
| number             =
| variants           =
<!-- General specifications -->
| spec_label         =
| weight             = {{convert|200|kg|abbr=on}}
| length             = {{convert|2.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| part_length        =
| width              =
| height             =
| diameter           = {{convert|22.3|cm|abbr=on}}
| crew               =
| passengers         =
| filling_weight = {{convert|100|kg|abbr=on}} primary charge<br>{{convert|15|kg|abbr=on}} secondary charge
}}

The '''Durandal''' is an [[anti-runway penetration bomb]] developed by the French company [[Matra]] (now [[MBDA]]), designed to destroy airport [[runway]]s and exported to several countries. A simple crater in a runway could be filled in without issue, so the Durandal uses two explosions to displace the concrete slabs of a runway, thus making the damage to the runway far more difficult to repair. The bomb is named after [[Durendal|a mythical medieval French sword]].

==Overview==
{{refimprove section|date=July 2011}}
Designed to be dropped from low altitudes, the bomb's fall is slowed by a [[parachute]]. The maximum release speed is {{convert|550|kn|km/h mph|abbr=out}} and the minimum release altitude is {{convert|200|ft|abbr=out}}. When the bomb has reached a 40° angle due to the parachute's drag, it fires a [[rocket]] booster that accelerates it into the runway surface. The {{convert|100|kg|abbr=out|adj=on}} primary charge explodes after the weapon has penetrated the concrete and drives the secondary charge even deeper. The {{convert|15|kg|abbr=out|adj=on}} secondary charge then explodes after a one-second delay. Later production weapons have a programmable fuse that can delay the secondary detonation up to several hours.

The weapon can penetrate up to {{convert|40|cm|abbr=out}} of [[concrete]], and creates a crater {{convert|2|m|abbr=out}} deep and approximately {{convert|5|m|abbr=out}} in diameter. In addition, concrete slabs around the crater are disturbed in an area approximately {{convert|15|m|abbr=out}} in diameter. The disturbed slabs are displaced up to {{convert|50|cm|abbr=out}} above the original surface, making repair more difficult than the simple crater from a conventional bomb.<ref name=docstoc>{{cite web|title=Ordnance & Munitions Forecast |url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/80290053/Durandal-BLU-Archived |accessdate=23 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019143921/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/80290053/Durandal-BLU-Archived |archivedate=19 October 2013 |website=www.docstoc.com}}</ref>

==Service history==
There is a persistent story that the first use of the current Matra Durandal was by Israeli Mirages during the [[Six-Day War]]. This is inaccurate, as this war took place ten years before the Durandal was first available on the arms market.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jane's Air Launched Weapons|url=http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/Durandal-BLU-107-B-France.html|website=Jane's Information group|accessdate=2011-07-23|date=12 January 2010|archive-date=26 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426183959/http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/Durandal-BLU-107-B-France.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rather, the prototype French/Israeli anti-runway weapon program which cratered Egyptian runways in 1967 is related, but distinct from the Durandal. The Israeli weapon used rockets rather than parachutes to brake over the target. The Matra development branch was in development from 1971 on and would form the basis for the Durandal which uses parachute braking.<ref name=docstoc/><ref>"Dassault Mirage: The Combat Log", Salvador Mafe Huertas, page-41, {{ISBN|978-0764301681}}</ref>
[[File:BLU-107 B Durandal display - National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.jpg|thumb| BLU-107/B Durandal on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.]]
The Durandal was adopted by the US in a slightly modified form (with a steeper impact angle and a higher 630 knot deployment speed) as the BLU-107/B in the 1980s, and carried by F-111 and F-15E strike aircraft.<ref name=docstoc/>

{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="7"|The U.S. Air Force procurement program for Durandal<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015005360444;view=1up;seq=477 Department of Defense appropriations for 1983], pt. 7, p. 483.</ref>
|-
!Fiscal Year||1983||1984||1985||1986||1987||Total
|-
|Dollars in millions||9.2||23.3||87.5||184.1||195.1||499.2
|-
|Quantity||350||840||3,000||6,000||6,000||16,190
|}

In addition, the Durandal is in service with Argentina, Turkey, and at least 14 other nations. The Durandal is not currently in the weapon inventory of the French Armée de l'Air<ref name=docstoc/><ref>{{cite web|title=MBDA (Matra) BLU-107/B Durandal|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/blu-107.html|accessdate=23 July 2011|website= www.designation-systems.net}}</ref>

It was used by the US Air Force in [[Desert Storm]], delivered by [[F-111]]E's of the 20th Fighter Wing based in Turkey. 20th Wing flight commander Captain George Kelman said "there is nothing better at destroying a runway than a Durandal."<ref>{{cite web|title=BLU-107 Durandal - Dumb Bombs|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/blu-107.htm 
|website=www.globalsecurity.org |accessdate=23 July 2011}}</ref>

It has been reported{{who|date=May 2014}} that China has developed its own anti-runway bombs, the Type 200A, using Durandals as models. In the 1980s, China purchased a number of Durandals from France.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. out of anger: After Chinese copy of Russian weapons and turned to France|url=http://www.9abc.net/index.php/archives/7736
|website=www.9abc.net | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221030259/http://www.9abc.net/index.php/archives/7736|url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-21}}</ref>

==Users==
{{refimprove section|date=September 2019}}
[[File:Matra Durandal Users.png|thumb|Map with Durandal users in blue]]
{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
*{{flag|Argentina}}
*{{flag|Brazil}}
*{{flag|China}}
*{{flag|Ecuador}}
*{{flag|Egypt}}
*{{flag|France}}
*{{flag|Greece}}
*{{flag|Jordan}}
*{{flag|Libya}}
*{{flag|Nigeria}}
*{{flag|Oman}}
*{{flag|Pakistan}}
*{{flag|Serbia}}
*{{flag|South Korea}}
*{{flag|Turkey}}
*{{flag|United States}}<ref name="docstoc" />
*{{flag|Venezuela}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chenel |first1=Bernard |last2=Liébert |first2=Michel |last3=Moreau |first3=Eric |title=Mirage III/5/50 en service à l'étranger |date=2014 |publisher=Editions LELA Presse |location=Le Vigen, France |isbn=978-2-914-017-763 |page=280}}</ref>
*{{flag|Yugoslavia}}
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* BAPI – A Brazilian anti-runway weapon
* [[Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon]] – An Indian precision-guided anti-airfield weapon
* [[JP233]] – A British anti-runway weapon
* [[BAP 100]] – A smaller French anti-runway weapon adopted by the French Air Force

==References==
{{Reflist}}<!--added above External links/Sources by script-assisted edit-->

==External links==
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/blu-107.htm BLU-107 page on GlobalSecurity]
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/blu-107.html MBDA (Matra) BLU-107/B Durandal - Designation Systems]
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Aerial bombs of France]]
[[Category:Anti-runway weapons]]
[[Category:Matra]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1970s]]