Rockeye II Mark 20

Rockeye 2

Main Points.

  • A cluster weapon that can deliver 247 bomblets over the approximate area of a football field.
  • Effective against hardened targets (steel or concrete) and softer targets (personnel, trucks, radars, etc.)
  • Used extensively in Vietnam and Iraq
  • Employed by Navy, Marines and Air Force

Rockeye I (Cluster Bomb Mark 12) was an interim weapon developed by China Lake to meet the immediate requirements for an antitank, antipersonnel cluster bomb unit for use by high-speed aircraft. Rockeye II (Cluster Bomb Mark 20), a superior weapon replaced Rockeye I in 1963.
Rockeye II comes in three major subassemblies: the nose, which contains the fuze; the dispenser body, which contains 247 shaped-charge bomblets; and the tail assembly.

Incorporated in the dispenser, along its length, are linear shaped charges. When the fuze initiates, the shaped charges split the dispenser in half and it opens like a clamshell and dispenses the bomblets. The bomblets come in three main parts: the conical shaped charge warhead, which causes upon detonation a jet of super heated and pressurized gas to penetrate up to 10 inches of steel or 31 inches of reinforced concrete. When the bomblets are freed from the dispenser, they fall free and arm themselves on their way to the targets.  If they hit a hard target, such as a tank or a concrete bunker a crystal in the tip of the probe gets crushed, which causes the crystal to produce electricity thus detonating the warhead and enabling the shaped charge jet to penetrate the hard target. If the bomblets hit a soft target, the impact is not sufficient enough to crush the crystal to produce the electricity to cause it to detonate at that point. The bomblets penetrate the length of the probe until it hits at its wide diameter at which point it will suddenly decelerate. This causes an inertial firing pin to set off the warhead, causing a blast that sends metal fragments in all directions.  The dispersion of the 247 bomblets roughly covers an area the size of a football field.

The tail assembly has four folding fins so canister can fit on the delivery aircraft and will pop open upon bomb release.

Rockeye proved very effective in the Vietnam War against such targets as trucks, convoys, antiaircraft sites, parked aircraft, radar installations, and personnel. Tanks were not common targets in that conflict.  During Operation Desert Storm approximately 28,000 Rockeye were delivered against armor, artillery, and personnel targets.