Mark 84 bomb

The Mark 84 or BLU-117 is an American general-purpose bomb, it is also the largest of the Mark 80 series of weapons. Entering service during the Vietnam War, it became a commonly used US heavy unguided bomb (due to the amount of High-explosive content packed inside) to be dropped, second only to the 15000 lb BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" then in service and presently third only to the 22600 lb GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) currently in service. Pilots flying the F-117 Nighthawk over Iraq during the first gulf war nicknamed it the "Hammer" (albeit fitted with the GBU-27 Paveway III kit for use specially by the Nighthawks), for its considerable destructive power and blast radius.

Development and deployment


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 2083 lb. It is a streamlined steel casing filled with 945 lb of Tritonal high explosive.

The Mark 84 is capable of forming 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 yd.

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.

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 approximately 8 minutes 40 seconds.