Mark 82 bomb


The Mark 82 is an unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb, part of the United States. The explosive filling is usually tritonal, though other compositions have sometimes been used.

Development and deployment

With a nominal weight of 500 lb, 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, its actual weight varies depending on its configuration, from 510 lb to 570 lb. It is a streamlined steel casing containing 192 lb 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 and Nitro-Chem in Bydgoszcz, Poland 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.
File:Mk. 81 250-lb and Mk. 82 Snakeye I 500-lb.jpg|thumb|Mk. 82 bomb with a Snake Eye Tail Retarding Device – this photograph shows an unfuzed, with its usual combat paint scheme. For display purposes, the optional high-drag Snake Eye tailfin set used for low-altitude release is shown.
According to a test report conducted by the United States Navy's Weapon System Explosives Safety Review Board 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. France requested 1,200 Mk 82s in 2010 to Société des Ateliers Mécaniques de Pont-sur-Sambre which builds Mk 82s under licence. Saudi Arabia requested 8,000 Mk 82s in 2015, along with guidance kits and other weapons.

Low-level delivery

In low-level bombing, it is possible for the delivering aircraft to sustain damage from the blast and fragmentation effects of its own munitions since the aircraft and ordnance arrive at the target almost simultaneously. To address this issue, 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.
The tail unit has four 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