Forum: F-16 Armament & Stores

This is kinda off topic but I am curious of what the dud rate was for dumb iron MK82, MK117 stuff used in the Vietnam era. I understand bomb building is tough work especially if you are slaving over a hot B-52 on Guam 12 hours a day and also manufacture errors too.

So if 100 MK-82/Mk117s go out... how many actually go "bang" back in the day?

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elp
As you can see from these sites getting exact numbers is almost impossible. You may know that most are duds because of fuse malfunction rather than the bomb. I remember watching a strike film from an F-4C where the first bomb exploded, which knocked the second sideways clipping a tree and taking off the nose fuse. The bomb continued to plow it's way through a thatched hut without detonating.
Other films have shown the same when multiple release were used and bombs are tossed everywhere by the force of the first detonation.
We had fuse problems even in the gulf war so just because we have new more sophisticated one does not mean the success rate is any greater.
I think most would agree the MK82 and 117 were far more reliable than the CBU's. CBU bomblets litter every battle field we have been in and still pose a great threat to all.

Here is a good source for information that should be a bit more accurate than others I have listed below. http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airc ... sopko.html

Not a big fan of this site, so take it with a little salt.
Vietnam War = 7,078,032 tons (3-1/2 times WWII
tonnage)
Bomb tonnage dropped during the Vietnam War amounted to
1,000 lbs. for every man, woman and child in Vietnam.
http://www.landscaper.net/timelin.htm

Not sure of accuracy on this one either.
6,727,084 tons of bombs dropped on Indo China by the US during the Vietnam War.
http://zfacts.com/p/679.html

This looks to be creatable.
800,000 mines & unexploded ordnance
http://www.cpi.org/regions/vietnam.php

During the 1982 Falklands War, several RN ships were hit with Argentinian bombs that failed to explode, sometimes passing through the ship entirely. I have read that this was due to the pilots "too bravely" pressing their attacks to ensure hits, resulting in the fuses not having time to arm. Wikipedia says the problem was solved by using retarded bombs. As many as 13 bombs hit without exploding and one British officer is quoted as saying, "six better fuses and we'd have lost."

Some of the bombs were actually sold to the Armada Argentina by the British in friendlier times.

So, regarding your initial post, duds can result both from fuses and improper employment.

This is one reason why one must take care when visiting Vietnam. To this day, there are still cases of Vietnamese plowing fields, or digging, and setting off dud munitions from the war. I recall a farmer back in 05, who, according to the news, hit a 500 lb. Mk.82, which detonated. This is why I try not to put too many former war zones into my vacation plans.

TC
Europe is still digging stuff up too. We had two 500lbs bombs buried under our end of runway at Camp New Amsterdam. They were found when they were resurfacing. Belgium has a large stock pile of chemical weapons left over from WWI. They find them while plowing fields and construction. The last time I saw it they had them stacked in open racks bleeding out all kinds of nasty stuff. Hope they found a way to get rid of them by now.

CNA haven't heard that name in a long time, heard it was a great place to be.

I can honestly say that I have never seen a B-52 miss the planet it aimed at.

Here are some interesting links, for the last one . . . "Do you want to supersize these fries?"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/5001716.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/5001940.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 002144.stm

asiatrails wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 002144.stm

could you imagine peeling that potato. Shocked

vinnie wrote:

CNA haven't heard that name in a long time, heard it was a great place to be.

Best kept secret in the AF, that's why the closed it...to many people loved it! Crying or Very sad

Forum: F-16 Armament & Stores

Off topic Munitions Question - Dud rate of Iron in Vietnam