MK-20 Rockeye Cluster Bomb Unit

The MK-20 Rockeye Cluster Bomb Unit was used on the F-117 program as a test load. It is a free-fall, unguided cluster bomb unit designed to kill tanks and armored vehicles. The system consists of a clamshell dispenser, a mechanical MK-339 timed fuse, and 247 dual-purpose armor-piercing shaped-charge bomblets. Each bomblet weighs 1.32 pounds and has a 0.4-pound shaped-charge warhead of high explosives that produces up to 250,000 psi at the point of impact, allowing penetration of approximately 7.5 inches of armor. Rockeye is most efficiently used against area targets requiring penetration to kill, and its bomblets free fall over a 3,300 square yard area and detonate on impact. Fielded in 1968, the Rockeye dispenser is also used in the Gator air-delivered mine system, and the shaped warhead charge in the bomblet is effective against armor and soft skinned targets. During Desert Storm, U.S. Marines used the weapon extensively, dropping 15,828 of the 27,987 total Rockeyes against armor, artillery, and antipersonnel targets, while the remainder were dropped by Air Force and Navy aircraft. The Mk 427 Mod 0 and Mod 1 shipping and storage containers encase one fully assembled Mk 20 bomb cluster and consist of reusable metal upper and lower shell assemblies secured with either 16 quick-release latches or 18 "T" latches, with a rubber gasket providing an environmental seal and external frame members allowing the containers to be stacked six high and handled by ground equipment.

Palmdale, California · United States