VISION BASED ESTIMATION OF INTER-BOMB DISTANCES IN AIRCRAFT NEAR FIELD AND ON TARGET DURING STICK BOMBING TRIALS FROM FIGHTER AIRCRAFT USING ONBOARD CAMERAS

Stick bombing is used as a strategy of mass destruction used by bombers where multiple bombs are released simultaneously from the aircraft, targeted to destroy a full region. Simultaneous release of bombs are safety critical from separation perspective, as any mid air collision and explosion of bombs in aircraft’s near field can lead to the loss of aircraft and pilot’s life. Hence, evaluation of inter-bomb distances during stick bombing test flights in aircraft’s near-field is of paramount importance. In this paper, we present the evaluation of inter-bomb distance during store separation in the near field of LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) using onboard cameras and also visualize the combined trajectory of all bombs after release. We also compute the inter-bomb distance when the bombs hit the target using the same onboard cameras to compute the accuracy of these drops. This analysis provides a basis for evaluation of the safe separation and accuracy of stores during stick bombing trials.