Mark 82 bomb

Mark 82 General Purpose (GP) Bomb

Mk 82 bomb as displayed on U.S. Air Force website.
Type Low-drag general purpose bomb
Place of origin United States
Production history
Designer General Dynamics
Manufacturer General Dynamics
Unit cost $2,082.50 (in 2001)[1]
Specifications
Weight 500 pounds (227 kg)
Length 87.4 inches (2.22 m)
Diameter 10.75 inches (273 mm)

Filling Tritonal, Minol or Composition H6
Filling weight 192 pounds (87 kg)

The Mark 82 (Mk 82) is an unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb, part of the U.S. Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is usually tritonal, though other compositions have sometimes been used.

Development and deployment

A B-2 Spirit dropping Mk 82 bombs into the Pacific Ocean in a 1994 training exercise off Point Mugu, California.

With a nominal weight of 500 lb (227 kg), it is the one of the smallest in current service, and one of the most common air-dropped weapons in the world. Although the Mk 82's nominal weight is 500 lb (227 kg), its actual weight varies considerably depending on its configuration, from 510 lb (232 kg) to 570 lb (259 kg). It is a streamlined steel casing containing 192 lb (89 kg) of Tritonal high explosive. The Mk 82 is offered with a variety of fin kits, fuzes, and retarders for different purposes.

The Mk 82 is the warhead for the GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and for the GBU-38 JDAM.

Currently only the General Dynamics plant in Garland, Texas is Department Of Defense-certified to manufacture bombs for the US Armed Forces.

The Mk 82 is currently undergoing a minor redesign to allow it to meet the insensitive munitions requirements set by Congress.

Mk. 82 bomb with Tail Retarding Device – this photograph shows an unfuzed, museum display Mk 82 with its usual combat paint scheme. For display purposes, the optional high-drag "Snakeye" tailfins used for low-altitude release are shown.

According to a test report conducted by the United States Navy's Weapon System Explosives Safety Review Board (WSESRB) established in the wake of the 1967 USS Forrestal fire, the cooking off time for a Mk 82 is approximately 2 minutes 30 seconds.

More than 4,500 GBU-12/Mk 82 laser-guided bombs were dropped on Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.[2] Saudi Arabia requested 8,000 Mk82s in 2015, along with guidance kits and other weapons.[3]

Low-level delivery

In low-level bombing, it is easy for the delivering aircraft to sustain damage from the blast and fragmentation effects of its own munitions because the aircraft and ordnance arrive at the target at very close to the same time. To combat this, the standard Mk-82 General Purpose bomb can be fitted with a special high-drag tail fin unit. In this configuration, it is referred to as the Mk-82 Snakeye.[4]

The tail unit has 4 folded fins which spring open into a cruciform shape when the bomb is released. The fins increase the drag of the bomb, slowing its forward progress and allowing the delivery aircraft to safely pass over the target before the bomb explodes.

Variants

See also

References

Notes
  1. "Air Force Munitions Acquisition Costs". About.comUS Military.
  2. Friedman, Norman (1997). The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapons systems, 1997–1998. Naval Institute Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-55750-268-1.
  3. "Saudis Request Huge Resupply of U.S. Air-To-Ground Weapons". Aviation International News.
  4. "Bombs and components". www.ordnance.org/gpb.htm.
  5. "China Lake, Naval Warfare Center". www.chinalakealumni.org.
  6. 1 2 "BLU-111/B". Federation of American Scientists.
  7. "Equipment Listing". www.designation-systems.net.
  8. Little Bang – p.38, Aviation Week & Space Technology-January 29, 2007
  9. Precision Lethality Responds to Urgent Operational Need – AF.mil, 9 January 2015
  10. USAF’s ultra-lethal carbon fibre bomb approved for export – Flightglobal.com, 29 June 2015
  11. USAF Has Carbon Fibre Bomb Export Hopes – Copybook.com/Military, 2 July 2015
  12. Jenkins, Dennis R. B-1 Lancer, The Most Complicated Warplane Ever Developed, p. 159. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. ISBN 0-07-134694-5.
  13. Air Force Replaces Cluster Bombs With Something Slightly Less Likely to Kill Civilians – Medium.com/War-is-Boring, 12 October 2014
  14. USAF moving past cluster munitions, CALCM cruise missile – Flightglobal.com, 4 June 2015

External links

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