the sb series of bombs were designed to be high-capacity bombs that were intended to create the largest lateral blast effect on detonation. this was in contrast to most other german bombs, which were either armor-piercing, cluster bombs, fragmentation or incendiaries. since the sb series wasn't designed to pierce armor or to create fragments, the casing of the series were very light and the ratio of charge to weight was high at 73%, while the majority of general-purpose bombs were up to 50%.