Those Mad Raf Boffins!

[B777LR]

Sky Hook

The big drawback of course is that the plane would have to fly straight and level at an altitude where enemy fighters would probably be lurking!

The system was used in the early days of WWII, against the luftwaffe when they came to bomb london at NIGHT      Interestingly, this wasnt the only kind of aerial mines used by the british

The double parachute link

A barrage baloon would carry a cable up to 5000 ft.
The impact of the cable on a plane, would cause the cutting of the wire at the bottom and the top of the cable.
Each end of this cable had a parachute attached to it, that would deploy when the plane was dragging the cable (ouch)
It owuld then cut itself through the wing like a cheese cutter...

[B777LR]

The parachute and cable system

As enemy aircraft approach, a row of rockets are fired to an altitude of 600 ft.
The rockets 480 ft of cable suspended under a parachute, with another parachute at the other end of the cable.
The enemy plane will then catch the cable, and the parachutes (much smaller than the double parachute link parachutes), will hopefully send it spinning out of control.


The long aerial mine

An aircraft drops the mines at intervals of 200 ft, in the path of incoming bombers.
Upon release, the mine deploys 2000 ft of wire, a bomb at the top of the wire and a furled parachute at the end of the wire, all suspended under a parachute connected by a weak link.
An enemy aircraft impacts the wire, causing the weak link holding the parachute to break. The lower parachute deploys, pulling the wire, and bomb, towards the wing of the bomber, where it detonates