Mark 118 bomb

M-118 Demolition Bomb

M-118 displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio
Type Demolition bomb, free-fall general-purpose bomb
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1950's–present
Used by United States
Wars Korean War , Vietnam War
Specifications
Weight 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg)
Maximum firing range Varies by method of employment
Warhead Tritonal
Warhead weight 1,975 pounds (896 kg)

The M118 is an air-dropped general-purpose or demolition bomb used by United States military forces. It dates back to the time of the Korean War of the early 1950s. Although it has a nominal weight of 3,000 lb (1,350 kg), its actual weight, depending on fuse and retardation options, is somewhat higher. A typical non-retarded configuration has a total weight of 3,049 lb (1,383 kg) with an explosive content of 1,975 lb (895 kg) of Tritonal. This is a higher percentage than in the more recent American Mark 80 series bombs thus perhaps the designation as a demolition bomb.

In the late 1950s through the early 1970s it was a standard aircraft weapon, carried by the F-100 Super Sabre, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and F-4 Phantom. Some apparently remain in the USAF inventory, although they are rarely used today.

It was a component of the GBU-9/B version of the Rockwell electro-optically guided Homing Bomb System (HOBOS). This weapon consisted of a M-118 fitted with a KMU-390/B guidance kit with an image contrast seeker, strakes and cruciform tail fins to guide the bomb to its target. It was also used in the Texas Instruments Paveway I series of laser-guided bombs as the GBU-11 when it was fitted with the KMU-388 seeker head, MAU-157 Computer Control Group and the MXU-602 Airfoil Group. This latter consisted of four fixed cruciform fins and 4 moveable canards to control the bomb's trajectory. It was also fitted with an AIM-9B Sidewinder infra-red seeker and an AGM-45 Shrike nose cone during 1967 tests at the Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake, presumably in an attempt to create an infra-red guided bomb.[1] This was called the Bombwinder.

Notes

  1. ↑ "China Lake 1967 Photo Gallery". Retrieved 2009-01-03.

References

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