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Mark 84 bomb

2000 lb unguided aerial bomb

Field	Value
name	Mark 84
image	Mk-84 xxl.jpg
image_size	250
type	Low-drag general-purpose bomb
origin	United States
is_explosive	y
is_missile	y
service	Since 1950s
used_by	United States
Israel

manufacturer	General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems
unit_cost
variants
mass	925 kg
length	3.84 m
diameter	460 mm
filling	Tritonal, H6 or PBXN-109
filling_weight	429 kg
tailspan	640 mm
ref	Janes and The War Zone

Israel

Saudi Arabia The Mark 84 or BLU-117 is a 2000 lb American general purpose aircraft bomb. It is the largest of the Mark 80 series of weapons. Entering service during the Vietnam War, it became a commonly used US heavy unguided bomb. At the time, it was the third largest bomb by weight in the US inventory behind the 15000 lb BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" and the 3000 lb M118 "demolition" bomb. It is currently sixth in size due to the addition of the 5,000 lb GBU-28 in 1991, the 22600 lb GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) in 2003, and the 30000 lb GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

Development and use

Sailors remove hoisting sling from a crate containing a pair of Mark 84 bomb bodies. Tailfins and fuzes have not yet been fitted

The Mark 84 has a nominal weight of 2000 lb, but its actual weight varies depending on its fin, fuze options, and retardation configuration, from 1972 to. It is a streamlined steel casing filled with 945 lb of tritonal high explosive.

The Mark 84 can form a crater 50 ft wide and 36 ft deep. It can penetrate up to 15 in of metal or 11 ft of concrete, depending on the height from which it is dropped, and causes lethal fragmentation to a radius of 400 ft.

Many Mark 84s have been retrofitted with stabilizing and retarding devices to provide precision guidance capabilities. They serve as the warhead of a variety of precision-guided munitions, including the GBU-10/GBU-24/GBU-27 Paveway laser-guided bombs, GBU-15 electro-optical bomb, GBU-31 JDAM and Quickstrike sea mines. The HGK is a Turkish guidance kit used to convert 2000-lb Mark 84 bombs into GPS/INS guided smart bombs.

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 84 is about 8 minutes 40 seconds.

Deployment in wars

MK 84 were used by U.S. forces in the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, and the bombing of Yugoslavia, and by Israel in the 2014 Gaza War and the ongoing Gaza war.

According to a forensic investigation by Human Rights Watch, MK 84 bombs were also in the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war.

In 2023 and 2024, the United States supplied over 14,000 Mark 84 bombs to Israel. They have been used extensively in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. At least one of the bombs was used in the 13 July 2024 al-Mawasi attack that killed the top commander of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, and Hamas' Khan Yunis Military Division Chief Rafa Salama and 90+ civilians and injured over 300.

According to the US Senator Mark Kelly, Israel used a bomb of this type in the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, in Lebanon on September 27, 2024.

References

[[Janes Information Services. (26 July 2022). "Mk 80 general-purpose bombs (BLU-110/111/117/126/129)". Jane's Group UK Limited..
[[Janes Information Services. (27 June 2007). "Boeing AGM-130". Jane's Group UK Limited..
[[Janes Information Services. (29 November 2022). "GBU-10/12/16/58 Paveway II". Jane's Group UK Limited..
[[Janes Information Services. (21 November 2022). "GBU-15 modular guided weapon". Jane's Group UK Limited..
[[Janes Information Services. (1 December 2022). "GBU-22, GBU-24, GBU-27 Paveway III, and Enhanced Paveway III". Jane's Group UK Limited..
[[Janes Information Services. (29 November 2022). "GBU-31/32/38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)". Jane's Group UK Limited..
(15 December 2022). "What Joint Direct Attack Munitions could do for Ukraine". Recurrent Ventures.
"Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Estimate Procurement of Ammunition". US Air Force.
(23 April 2000). "Mk84 General Purpose Bomb". [[Federation of American Scientists]].
Hollway, Don. (March 1996). "Stealth Secrets of the F-117 Nighthawk: Its development was kept under wraps for 14 years, but by 1991, the F-117 nighthawk had become a household word.". Cowles Magazines.
(2024-11-11). "Guidance kits for Mark 80 series air-delivered bombs - Armament Research Services (ARES)".
(8 December 1998). "Mk 65 Quick Strike Mine". [[Federation of American Scientists]].
(2013). "Precision Guidance Kit (HGK)". [[TÜBİTAK Defense Industries Research and Development Institute.
"Aircraft History of the MK-84 Bomb". MotoArt.
Janačković, Branko. (20 April 2024). "U toku završne pripreme za uklanjanje bombe sa gradilišta u Nišu".
(17 August 2021). "Faulty, indiscriminate, lethal: Israel opts for Vietnam-era bombs in Gaza".
(2024-10-10). "Press Release: New study shows Israel air-dropped 2000lb bombs within lethal and damage ranges of hospitals in Gaza".
(7 April 2016). "Yemen: US Bombs Used in Deadliest Market Strike".
(29 March 2024). "US has agreed to send more bombs and warplanes to Israel, sources say".
(21 December 2023). "Visual Evidence Shows Israel Dropped 2,000-Pound Bombs Where It Ordered Gaza's Civilians to Move for Safety".
(30 June 2024). "US has sent Israel thousands of 2,000-pound bombs since Oct. 7". [[Reuters]].
(30 September 2024). "Nasrallah Assassination: US senator confirms use of American-made 900 kilo bombs".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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