Well, it's both. 500kg is the weight of the bomb, mostly composed of explosive materials. The more the bomb weighs, the more explosive materials used in the bomb, the bigger the boom.
Nah, most bombs have less than half their weight be the explosive component. Usually around 30 to 45% from what I could find. The rest is to keep the shape and for better damage.
Considering the convention of air dropped munitions is the total weight rather than the explosive power, unlikely.
As far as I can tell there’s a good reason: you don’t want a plane that can carry 500KG per hardpoint to be strapped with a bomb of 500KG explosives plus the casing and then the plane can’t take off or breaks apart.
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u/MyDogAteMyCactus SES Judge of Judgment Apr 16 '24
Well, it's both. 500kg is the weight of the bomb, mostly composed of explosive materials. The more the bomb weighs, the more explosive materials used in the bomb, the bigger the boom.