Bombs away for Auckland
Plumes of fire and black sand rose from the ground as bombs were dropped on northwest Auckland on Monday afternoon.
It was all part of the Royal New Zealand Air Force bomb camp, which saw five live Mark 82 high explosive weapons dropped at the Kaipara Air Weapons Range, near South Head.
The non-guided weapons are each packed with 227kg of explosives and are designed for water as part of the air force’s anti-submarine response force.
They are used to detonate and create a large vacuum, which would break up a submarine in water, Flight Lieutenant James Arnott-Steel says.
The fuse on the bomb has a delay of around a quarter of a second.
That means the momentum drives the bomb deeper into the water, creating a pressure differential which causes the damage, he says.
Bomb camps are held twice a year and are always met with enthusiasm, Arnott-Steel says.
Public affairs officer (air) Simon Eichelbaum says the training exercise went according to plan.
However, one ‘‘dud bomb’’ out of the five was dropped and did not explode on impact.
‘‘It gives the bomb disposal team a chance to exercise their skills so it’s a good thing,’’ he says.
Although the aircraft aims for a target, the bombs are not precision weapons.
The last bomb dropped landed 25 metres from the target which was ‘‘really good’’, Eichelbaum says.
The whole training process starts with getting the weapon safely out of storage, where the Armorers then prepare the weapon and insert fuses.
The weapon is loaded in the aircraft in the Ohakea airbase – not Whenuapai – due to the 1140m danger zone and licensing issues.
In terms of flying and releasing the weapon, there are a lot of settings and checklists to go through to get it safely away from the aircraft, he says.
A data management navigation system in the plane measures wind, the aircraft’s speed over the ground, air pressure and altitude.
Air force spokeswoman Claire Rennie described the exercise as ‘‘a critical part of ensuring the RNZAF remains ready to respond not only to humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions, but also to combat focused scenarios’’.
When the air force held similar exercises in 2014, Aucklanders reported hearing mystery bangs and shaking throughout the region.
The New Zealand Defence Force apologised, saying it was the first time in 18 years of testing that they had noise complaints.
‘‘Normally the sound is confined to a 10-15km radius,’’ the Defence Force said in a statement issued at the time.
‘‘However, it appears a prevailing westerly wind coupled with low cloud cover have amplified the sound from the explosions.’’