The intention of the Parachute Bomb was to slow the forward momentum of the dropped bomb, allowing the low-level bomber to escape the blast of the exploding bomb.  The parachute was springloaded to pop out of the pack.

The Parafrag was developed in the 1920s, but was all but forgotten in the inter-war years.  This innovative bomb was a standard 23-pound fragmentation bomb fitted to a special bomb tail fin unit.  The tail fin unit mounted a tube on one side that contained a small parachute, whose release ("rip") cord was attached on one end to the bomb bay and opened the chute upon release.  The suspension hook inside the bombay released the bomb and the arming hook retained the pull out wire, pulling out the container.  The pilot disk of the top cord assembly was caught by the airstream and pulled the parachute out of its case.  The arming cord was attached to the parachute shrouds and, as the parachute opened and the shroud lines straightened, the arming cord pulled the arming wire from the fuse, which was then armed.  Meanwhile, the bomb, slowed by the parachute, fell with a terminal velocity of about 20 mph.  The bomb was fused by a very sensitive proximity or instantaneous fuse that would cause it to explode several feet above the ground, spreading 800 to 1,200 pieces of fragmented bomb casing over a radius of 10 to 25 yards, devastating nearby personnel, exploding fuel tanks, and shredding vehicles and aircraft.

Before he left for the SWPA, Gen. George Kenney had discovered 3,000 parafrags stored in a war reserve dump and had them shipped to Australia.  Kenney asked Pappy Gunn to design a delivery system for the parafrags and he developed the "Squirrel Cage."  The device was a honeycomb metal bomb rack resembling a cage with partitions that stacked four 23-pound parafrags one on top of another, nose to tail, in ten stacks per cage.  Over the target, all the parafrags were toggled, with the lower bomb in the stack leaving first and the other three following, from the rear stacks forward, until the cage was empty.  The first cages had a complicated arrangement oflevers and cables to release the bombs and problems occurred when the parachutes opened before bombs left the cage and hung up against the bottom of the aircraft.  There were no reported aircraft losses because of this, but until the problem was remedied, some pilots would salvo the entire cage just to get rid of it.  Once the apparatus and technique were perfected, the parafrag became the famous, devastating weapon in the multitude of combat photos and movies taken from escaping A-20s and B-25s.

The parachute fragmentation bomb body included a case, nose, and base.  The bomb was armed with a TNT or Comp. B explosive charge with a pin nose fuse and delayed arming.  The fin assembly was identical to fin fragmentation bombs.  A parachute unit assembly, parachute case assembly, and arming wire assembly were in the tail.  The fin stabilizer assembly of small bombs consisted of an axial member, to which four radial fins were attached.  One end was threaded for attachment to the bomb and the other end was formed into a lug for vertical suspension of the bomb.  Large fragmentation bombs had a box fin.  The parachute unit assembly consisted of a cylindrical parachute case attached to the bomb body that contained the parachute and shrouds, arming cord, and parachute top cord assembly; when bombs were individually suspended, a pull-out wire and pull-out wire container were also included.  In the latter, the pull-out wire container served to close the case; however, for handling, a shipping cover was added and sealed in place.  The case was closed in the cluster bomb by a loose cap held in place by the cluster adapter.

Bombs issued in clusters were completely assembled, while large fragmentation bombs were assembled in accordance with the directions for GP bombs. Small bombs for individual suspension and their fuses were removed from their packing and inspected.  After inspection, the components were loaded on a bomb service truck and trailer and taken to the assembly point.  The tape holding the arming wire to the case was removed and the arming cord was disengaged from the case coupling.  The fuse was assembled.  The sealing strip and shipping cover were removed from the parachute cage.  The pull-out wire was uncoiled from the case, taking care not to loosen its container or to kink or knot the pull-out wire.  The bomb was suspended in the rack by the "S" hook on the suspension cable, and the safety cotter pin was removed from the fuse.  The loop on the pull-out wire was attached to the arming pawl.  If the bomb was not dropped, the above steps were reversed by defusing the bomb and the components were returned to their original condition and packing.

Individually suspended Parafrag bombs could be dropped armed or safe.  When dropped "Armed," the suspension hook released the bomb and the arming hook retained the pull-out wire, pulling out the container.  The pilot disk of the top cord assembly was caught by the air stream and pulled the parachute from the case.  The arming cord was attached to the parachute shrouds and, as the parachute opened and the shroud lines straightened, the arming cord pulled the arming wire from the fuse, allowing the fuse to arm.  Meanwhile, the bomb, slowed by the parachute, fell with a terminal velocity of approximately 20 mph.  Upon impact, the bomb exploded, projecting fragments over an effective radius of I 0 to 25 yards.  When dropped "Safe," the pull-out was released with the bomb.  The container remained in place, keeping the parachute in the case.  Since the parachute did not open the arming wire was not withdrawn from the fuse and the fuse did not function on impact.

The typical targets for fragmentation bombs were personnel, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles, and parked aircraft.  However, because of their small size, direct hits or near misses were required for this type of bomb to damage armored targets.  Aircraft loads were limited by the number of bombs and not by their weightcarrying capacity.