Lazy Dog (bomb) - Deployment

Deployment

The Shape 2 projectile was sent to the Far East Air Force (FEAF) for combat use by mid-1952. FEAF immediately ordered 16,000 Lazy Dog weapon systems. An Air Force Lieutenant Colonel named Haile attached to the Armament Laboratory spent 90 days in Japan to set up local manufacture of the Lazy Dog weapons and train crew members in their use. Project LAZY DOG continued throughout 1952 to determine the optimum characteristics for stable dispersion containers and the feasibility of substituting a LAZY DOG warhead for the explosive nose of the Matador. The LAZY DOG program was still ongoing in the late 1950s.

The rationale for using lazy dogs in the Vietnam War was because they were highly effective against enemy troops hidden beneath the jungle canopy. The munitions were also cheap and easy to scatter over large areas. Like many other weapons, however, their effects were often gruesome and indiscriminate. "Lazy Dog" projectiles were also referred to by other names such as "lawn darts" or "buzz bombs" because of their similar shape to both those objects.

Lazy Dog projectiles were dropped in very large numbers, and usable with almost any kind of flying vehicle. They could be hurled from buckets, dropped by hand, thrown in their small shipping bags made of paper, or placed in a Mark 44 cluster adapter—a simple hinged casing with bins built in to hold the projectiles, opened by a mechanical time delay fuse as shown. The adapters themselves were 69.9 inches long and 14.18 inches in diameter. They would be shipped empty, then filled by hand. Depending on how many projectiles could be packed in, loaded weight varied between 560 and 625 pounds, with the theoretical maximum number of projectiles listed as an astonishing 17,500.

Regardless of how they were released into the air, each "Lazy Dog" projectile would develop an incredible amount of kinetic energy as it fell, penetrating nearly any material upon hitting the ground. Some reports say that their speeds often exceeded 500 mph before impact.

One period military manual with information on this weapon system, dated 04/27/69, had the awkward name "Resume of Technical Data on Conventional Munitions used in Special Air Warfare Activities."

A variant version of the "Lazy Dog" projectile was developed for the recoilless rifle. However, development was suspended because another kind of flechette solution was used for the recoilless rifle instead.