SC50JA (50 kg)

Description

Data for SC50JA (50 kg) bomb
	Metric	Imperial
Overall Length	110.0 cm	43.3 in
Body Diameter	20.3 cm	8.0 in
Filling Weight	25.0 kg	55.1 lb
Total Weight	50.0 kg	110.2 lb
Explosive Filling	Fp 60/40 (TNT/Amatol)
Bomb Type	High Explosive

The SC50JA (50 kg) or Spreng Cylindrisch is a German general purpose high explosive (HE) 50 kg bomb. The -Ja mark indicates this bomb comes from the Group I series of SC50 bombs. The SC50JA is a one-piece drawn steel body with a sheet steel tail cone attached by eight screws. The bomb can be suspended in one of two ways, either horizontally or vertically by the use of one eye-bolt lug mounted on the side and another mounted in the nose of the bomb. This version of the SC50JA does not feature a Kopfring or an anti-ricochet plate welded to the nose which ensures the bomb detonates on impact instead of excessive penetration of land targets or potentially skipping on water before exploding.

The German bomb sets itself aside when compared to similar bombs of other nations as it does not utilise either a nose or tail fuse to arm and detonate itself. Instead, it employs an athwartship fuse pocket which extends the entire width of the bomb with a single weld placed opposite of the fuse pocket opening to secure it in place. The tail cone of the SC50JA featured in War Thunder is a sheet steel cone, and four fins which are unbraced that is they are not supported with either tubular struts or a cylindrical strut ring.

General info

A top view of an SC50JA (50 kg) bomb with identification of parts

The SC50JA is found on many different aircraft such as early war fighters and light bombers. Two eye-bolts were outfitted on the bomb, one in the sidewall for horizontal mounting on external aircraft pylons or in some bomb-bays and one eye-bolt was screwed into a threaded socket in the bomb nose allowing for the bomb to be mounted vertically in a bomb-bay. Bombs mounted vertically in a bomb-bay conserved space allowing for more bombs to be installed, and upon being dropped, the bomb fins righted the bomb pointing the nose to towards the ground.

Bombs carried externally on German aircraft are typically painted sky blue to match the underside of the plane and to also make it more difficult to see from the ground when the aircraft is flying. Yellow stripes were painted down the tail cone in between each of the fins. Markings stencilled onto the bomb included bomb grade (Bi, I or II), mark (J, Ja, JB, JC, J/2 or L) and could also include the type of fuse, type of explosive, serial number and other various acceptance information.

These bombs if modified for use for water targets, the tail section would be removed, and an anti-ricochet plate would be added to prevent the bomb from skipping over the surface of the water before exploding, usually away from the intended target. Testing showed that bombs without tail fin sections could be dropped from heights of 200 m without any adverse effect or loss of accuracy.

Effective damage

An exploded view of an SC50JA (50 kg) bomb with identification of major parts

The SC50JA utilised Füllpulver Nr. 13 or Fp. 60/40 which was a ratio of 60% Amatol and 40% TNT. Amatol is an explosive compound which is a composition of TNT (Trinitrotoluene C₇H₅N₃O₆) and Ammonium Nitrate (N₂H₄O₃). Because of the great explosive velocity and brisance of TNT, one-way stretch resources was to exploit TNT's one drawback. TNT in its pure form when detonated leaves a black smoke residue after it explodes due to the oxygen deficiency in TNT (does not fully explode/burn all components efficiently). Supplementing TNT's need for oxygen, ammonium nitrate is added to the mixture which has an oxygen surplus and overall increases the energy release of a TNT explosion when mixed. When compared to each other, Amatol has a lower explosive velocity and brisance than pure TNT; however because it was cheaper to use Amatol, it became the go-to explosive for general purpose bombs. Unfortunately for the Germans, as the war wore on, sources of Amatol, TNT and other explosives were dwindling, and explosive fillings became more inconsistent rendering many bombs, grenades and bullets to be less effective.

SC50JA (50 kg) damage table	Metric	Imperial
Max armour penetration high explosive action	65 mm	2.56 in
Radius of destruction of an armoured vehicle	2 m	6.56 ft
Radius of fragment dispersion	70 m	230 ft

Comparison with analogues

Comparable bombs to SC50JA (50 kg)
	Name	Mass	Explosive mass	Explosive type	Penetration	Armour destruction radius	Fragmentation radius
▃	AN-M30A1	100 lb	24.5 kg	Amatol	65 mm	2 m	67 m
▂	FAB-50sv	49 kg	26.35 kg	TNT	65 mm	2 m	73 m
▅	Type 97 Number 6	60 kg	25.3 kg	Shimose	65 mm	2 m	69 m
▅	Type 94 GPHE	50 kg	25.09 kg	Type 97	65 mm	2 m	70 m
▄	GP 50	58 kg	25 kg	Amatol	65 mm	2 m	70 m
▄	G.A.M.Mn 50	53 kg	29 kg	M.Mn	66 mm	2 m	75 m
▄	D.T. No.2	55.7 kg	19 kg	TNT	64 mm	2 m	62 m

Usage in battles

The SC50JA (50 kg) is a general purpose HE bomb which was utilised by fighters, attackers and bombers. Due to its size, either two or four were outfitted to a fighter or attacker allowing it to perform low-level precision bombing on AAA or light vehicles. Bombers can carry two to twenty-eight 50 kg bombs and could drop them all in one location bombing a base or could spread them out across the map depending on where the targets of opportunity are. These smaller bombs are most effective when bombing vehicle columns or anti-aircraft artillery sites and can also be utilised to surprise enemy aircraft sitting on an airfield waiting for a reload or repair.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very effective against light armoured vehicles and anti-aircraft artillery
• Some fighters can carry upwards of four bombs
• Effective for low-level bombing against columns of vehicles

Cons:

• Small splash damage radius, requires effort in aiming
• Small total damage output by bombers when bombing bases
• Less effective usage at higher altitude especially against vehicles which will scatter

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

Images

• 

  SC50JA (50 kg) bombs mounted on external belly pylon of a Bf 109 E-1

• 

  SC50JA (50 kg) bombs being dropped from a Bf 109 E-1 onto lightly-armoured vehicles

• 

  SC50JA (50 kg) bombs situated on outer wing pylons of a Ju 87 B-2, notice the proximity of the bombs to the dive brake

• 

  SC50JA (50 kg) sideview while in fall.

• 

  Old Bomb Model

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

References

Bombs
USA
100 lb	AN-M30A1
250 lb	AN-M57 · LDGP Mk 81
300 lb	H.E. M31
500 lb	AN-M64A1 · LDGP Mk 82
600 lb	H.E. M32
750 lb	M117 cone 45
1,000 lb	AN-M65A1 · AN-M65A1 Fin M129 · LDGP Mk 83
1,600 lb	AN-Mk 1
2,000 lb	AN-M66A2 · LDGP Mk 84
3,000 lb	M118
4,000 lb	AN-M56
Germany
10 kg	SD10C
50 kg	SC50JA
200 kg	Sprengbombe
250 kg	SC250JA
400 kg	Sprengbombe
450 kg	Sprengbombe 68/70
500 kg	SC500K
1,000 kg	SC1000L2
1,800 kg	SC1800B
2,500 kg	SC2500
USSR
25 kg	AO-25M-1
50 kg	FAB-50sv
100 kg	FAB-100sv · FAB-100M43 · OFAB-100
220 kg	BRAB-220 (1930)
250 kg	FAB-250sv · FAB-250M-43 · FAB-250M-44 · FAB-250M-46 · FAB-250M-54 · FAB-250M-62 · OFAB-250sv · OFAB-250-270
500 kg	BRAB-500 (1938) · BRAB-500 · FAB-500sv · FAB-500M-43 · FAB-500M-44 · FAB-500M-46 · FAB-500M-54 · FAB-500M-62
1,000 kg	FAB-1000 · FAB-1000M-43 · FAB-1000M-44
1,500 kg	FAB-1500M-46
3,000 kg	FAB-3000M-46
5,000 kg	FAB-5000
Britain
250 lb	G.P. Mk.IV · M.C. Mk.I
500 lb	G.P. Mk.IV · H.E. M.C. Mk.II · M.C. Mk.I
540 lb	Mk.M2
1,000 lb	G.P. Mk.I · M.C. Mk.I · L.D H.E. M.C. Mk.1 · H.E. M.C. Mk.13
4,000 lb	H.C. Mk.II · H.C. Mk.IV
8,000 lb	H.C. Mk.II
12,000 lb	H.C Mk.I
Japan
Army
50 kg	Type 94 GPHE
100 kg	Type 94 GPHE
250 kg	Type 92 GPHE
500 kg	Type 92 GPHE
Navy
60 kg	Type 97 Number 6
250 kg	Type 98 Number 25 · Type Number 25 Model 2
500 kg	Type Number 50 Model 2 · Number Type 2 50 Model 1 GP(SAP)
800 kg	Type 99 Number 80 AP · Number 80 Mod. 1
1500 kg	Type 3 Number 150 AP
China
250 kg	Type 250-2 · 250-3
500 kg	500-3
Italy
50 kg	GP 50
100 kg	GP 100T · SAP 100M
160 kg	A.P 160
250 kg	GP 250
500 kg	GP 500
800 kg	GP 800
France
50 kg	D.T. No.2 · G.A. MMN. 50 · Type 61C
75 kg	G2 Navale
100 kg	No.1
250 lb	SAMP Mk 81
150 kg	I2 Navale
200 kg	No.1
500 lb	SAMP Mk 82
250 kg	Matra 25E · SAMP Type 25
400 kg	SAMP Type 21
1,000 lb	SAMP Mk 83
500 kg	No.2
2,000 lb	SAMP Mk 84
Sweden
50 kg	mb m/37AT · sb m/42 · sb m/47 · Model 1938
100 kg	Model 1938
120 kg	sb m/61 · m/71
250 kg	mb m/40 · mb m/50
500 kg	mb m/41 · mb m/56
600 kg	mb m/50
Israel
50 kg	SD50
70 kg	SD70
100 kg	100/50 kg G.P.
250 kg	250/50 kg G.P.
360 kg	360/50 kg G.P.
500 kg	500/50 kg G.P.
See also	List of guided bombs · List of retarded bombs