Mark 80 Series General Purpose Bombs

MK-80

Main Points.

  • Mk 80 bombs have been used in combat in large numbers in all wars since the 1960s
  • Mk 80 bombs are adapted with kits to make precision guided bombs such at laser-guided bombs and global positioning satellite guided bombs, dramatically increasing accuracy and reducing collateral damage
  • China Lake designed Snakeye fins allowing safe low-level bombing.

Douglas Aircraft developed the Mk 80 Series General Purpose Bombs in the 1950s in response to the requirement for bombs producing less aerodynamic drag than existing bombs of that time. They are currently being produced by General Dynamics. Originally, four different weight bombs were produced: Mk 81, 250-lb; Mk 82 500-lb, Mk 83 1,000-lb, and Mk 84 2,000-lb bombs.  All are of similar construction, with relatively light cast steel cases and 45-percent of the weight is explosive. They are also known as “dumb bombs” because they are unguided and delivery accuracy is not very good, often resulting in missing their targets or causing heavy collateral damage.  Still, Mk 80 bombs were used in massive quantities during the Vietnam war and other conflicts.

Accuracy could be improved by dropping the bombs from lower altitudes, but this exposed the delivery aircraft to ground-fired weapons, and, if low enough, the aircraft could be exposed to fragments from the exploding bombs themselves. To solve the self-damage problem China Lake developed the Snakeye retarded fin assembly in the 1960s. On exhibit here are three different types of retarded assemblies. Two of them have “balloots” which have a combined balloon/parachute assembly and the other is the Snakeye mechanical retarding assembly developed at China Lake.

In recent years, scientists at China Lake and other facilities have taken the Mk 80 series bombs as a basic warhead and added guidance kits to the nose and tail to create guided bombs, and in some cases added wings so that the bombs can glide while being guided to a target. Concepts include semi-active laser, that created a series of laser guided bombs or LBGs and Global Positioning Satellite or GPS-guidance, that created the Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM, currently one of the military’s most accurate weapon systems.

In fact, the creation of the LGBs and JDAMs have improved bombing accuracy so much that whereas, it used to take several aircraft carrying loads of dumb bombs to attack one single target, and now with JDAM and LGBs, a single aircraft can successfully attack several targets with a single load, drastically decreasing the number aircraft needed to fight a war.