mk 80 family of bombs

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ICONIC FIREPOWER

W

Mk 80 Family of BombsA New Bomb for a New Generation BYBARRETT TILLMAN

World War II was over, and the jet age

was beginning. But mission-oriented

planners began pondering how the new

generation of aircraft might benefit from

a new generation of ordnance.

To reduce drag and increase speed

and fuel economy, engineers began

considering new bombs and fuel tanks.

One of these engineers was Edward H.

Heinemann.

Largely self educated, Heinemann

rose to prominence as Douglas AircraftCompanys chief engineer, producing

two generations of classic combat and

test aircraft, from the war-winning SBD

Dauntless to the D-558 Skystreak and

Skyrocket X-planes.

Something New Was NeededBefore something new could be devel-

oped, however, there first was the

matter of adequate ordnance for test

purposes. In 1945, during evaluation

of the AD (later A-1) Skyraider, the tail

fins of a 2,000-lb. bomb separated inflight. An investigation showed that the

faulty weapon dated from 1925! After

consulting with the Naval Air Weapons

Station at China Lake, California,

Heinemann phoned the Bureau of

Aeronautics and received permission to

proceed with a new weapon that would

fit current and projected aircraft. The

U.S. Army, however, largely continued

its own way with unstreamlined fat

bombs carried internally, contrary to

most carrier aircraft.

Long a master of weight reduction andinternal space, Heinemann put his crew

to work on finding optimal aerodynamic

shapes, including underwing pylons

as well as external stores. High-speed

flight testing was to be conducted on the

D-558-II, the record-setting Skyrocket.

Heinemann recalled, The Navys

weapons, since they were carried exter-

nally, had to be streamlined. We devel-

oped the Aero 1A shape for all sizes: 250,

500, 1,000, and 2,000 pounders as well

as for 150-, 300-, and 450-gallon (drop)

tanks. All had the same shape and thus

the same drag coefficient. A fineness

(length to diameter) ratio of 8.3 to 1

was chosen to fit all aircraft. It was not

a supersonic design, but the airplanes

with external bombs aboard werent

expected to fly that fast.

Te Mk 80 Family Is BornThe resultant bomb was a 1,000-pound

weapon that was 10 feet long, desig-

nated Mark 80, or Mk 80. In contrast

to Korean-era fat bombs, such as the

M117 (750 lb./450 explosive), the new

design was scalable, capable of being

built as small as 250 pounds and as large

as 2,000 pounds with very little differ-

ence in drag quotient.

When the Department of Defense was

established in 1947, a trend toward stan-

dardization began. China Lake was inti-

mately involved in the Mk 80 program,

recommending an explosive known as

An F/A-18C Hornet of VFA-82 shows off its weaponsload while in a vertical climb,including eight Mark 83 bombsflanked by AIM-9 Sidewinderand AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.Te Hornet was designed as atrue strike fighter, capable ofair-to-air and air-to-groundmissions. (Photo courtesy ofthe National Naval AviationMuseum)


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Tritonal 80/20, based on its composition

of 80 percent TNT and 20 percent alumi-

num inhibitor, which made weapons

safer for long-term storage.

Weaponeers and aircrews quicklyappreciated the Mk 80s highly efficient

design. The streamlined shape permit-

ted multiple bombs to be carried on

newly designed double and triple ejec-

tor racks, affording higher cruise speeds

and enhanced mission range. The thin

cast-steel case permitted 40 to 45 per-

cent of the weapon weight to consist of

explosives. That meant more bang for

the buckliterally.

The basic Mk 80 was adapted as the

Mk 81 (250 lb.), Mk 82 (500 lb.), Mk 83

(1,000 lb.), and Mk 84 (2,000 lb.). Proba-bly the most common configuration was

the Mk 82, which, like the others, could

vary 5 to 6 percent in weight depending

on explosive content and add-ons, such

as retarded or guidance packages.

Throughout most of the United

States involvement in the Vietnam War,

the large stock of previous ordnance

remained in use, although the regime

of Lyndon Johnson and Robert Strange

McNamara had to buy back bombs from

Germany to avoid an ordnance short-

age. The U.S. Air Force used M118s

extensively from 1965 at the start of

Operation Rolling Thunder but eventu-

ally converted to the Mk 80 series.

Te Family GrowsIn Vietnam, the 250-lb. Mk 81 was

found to be only marginally useful and

was pulled from the U.S. inventory.

Te life of an ordnanceman loading iron onto aircraft is captured in this image taken on the flight deck of the carrier USSConstellation(CV-64) as "red shirts" manhandle aMk 80 series bomb onto an A-6A Intruder of Attack Squadron (VA) 165 during operations off Vietnam. (Photo courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum)

Te Douglas Aero 1A shape that became the Mk 80series bomb and similar drop tanks, being tested onthe D-558-2 experimental aircraft in 1954. (Photocourtesy of Dr. Richard Hallion)


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Following three disastrous shipboard

fires during the Vietnam War, the Navytook additional protective measures by

applying a fire-retardant coating to inhibit

cook-offs, or secondary explosions,

aboard aircraft carriers. Thus, the rough

surface identifies naval ordnance in com-

parison to smooth Air Force weapons.The Heinemann weapon had

stretch. It was easily adapted to the

Snakeye retarded bomb with four pop-

out petals to slow its speed, allowing

fast, low-level delivery without risk to

the aircraft, and in the Paveway series, itbecame a laser-guided weapon. Among

other variants, the Mk 82 also became

the warhead for GBU-12 Paveway II

laser-guided bombs, introduced in the

mid-1970s.

With GPS targeting, the GBU-38 Joint

Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) used the

Mk 82 as another precision weapons

warhead. First used in NATO operations

against Yugoslavia in 1999, JDAMs could

be launched as far as 15 miles from the

target.

Mark 84s have proven extremely effec-

tive in the GBU-15 configuration with

electro-optical guidance. Developed in

the post-Vietnam era, the weapon was

employed by F-111s during Operation

Desert Storm.

A Satisfying AchievementIn his 1978 memoir, Ed Heinemann

said, As I write this almost 30 years after

the decision was made, bombs and fuel

tanks have been made by the thousands

in all sizes with the Aero 1A standard

design. My colleagues and I have derived

as much satisfaction from this endeavor

as we have from any one airplane.

Bomb carts stacked with Mk 82 bombs pictured in front of A-6E Intruders of Attack Squadron (VA) 196 on the flight deck of the carrier USS Coral Sea(CV-43) operating inthe Indian Ocean in 1980. During this cruise, the carrier provided support for Operation Eagle Claw, the failed rescue of Americans held hostage in Iran. (Photo courtesy ofthe National Naval Aviation Museum)

During most of its service, Attack Squadron (VA) 196 was nicknamed the "Main Battery," with clusters of Mk 82bombs serving as the main battery on this squadron A-6E Intruder during a 1986 flight. (Photo courtesy of theNational Naval Aviation Museum)

mk 80 family of bombs

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