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  • Mark 7 Nuclear Bomb

    The Mk-7, initially produced in 1952, was the first nuclear weapon that could be carried by USAF (and U.S. Navy) fighter aircraft. Although it was carried externally by fighters (F-84, F-100 and F-101), it also could be carried internally by bombers such as the B-57. Because of the lack of ground

  • Mark VI Aerial Bomb

    Developed in 1949, the Mark VI Aerial Bomb was basically an improved version of the "Fat Man" bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945. An implosion bomb (involving implosion-triggered plutonium fission), it had a higher yield, was lighter and had improved ballistic (flying)

  • M61A1 Vulcan Cannon

    The M61A1 Vulcan cannon is a six-barrel 20mm weapon capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute. Incorporating the same basic principle invented by Richard J. Gatling in the 1860s, the M61A1 multiple gun barrels rotate rapidly to allow a high rate of fire. Because each barrel fires only one of every

  • M102 105mm Cannon

    Designed for easy transport by helicopters or light vehicles, the M102 105mm cannon first saw service in Southeast Asia with the U.S. Army in 1966. The M102's light weight made it well-suited for use on AC-130 gunships. One of the side-firing 40mm guns on the AC-130 was replaced with the modified

  • Martin Marietta LANTIRN Navigation and Targeting System

    The Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting InfraRed for Night system gives Air Force strike aircraft an accurate, night, low-altitude, precision bombing capability. The system consists of two externally-mounted pods carried on some fighter aircraft. LANTIRN was first employed during the Persian Gulf

  • Hunting JP233 Anti-Runway Weapon

    The JP233 was conceived in the late 1970s by Hunting Engineering Limited in the United Kingdom to prevent an enemy from using an airfield. Used at low altitude by Panavia Tornado GR1 aircraft, the JP233 carried 30 57-pound runway-cratering submunitions in the rear section and 215 5.5-pound

  • GBU-31/32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM)

    Developed by Boeing for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance tail kit converts unguided, free-fall "dumb" bombs into accurate, all-weather "smart" Guided Bomb Units (GBU). These bombs cost much less than laser or television guided bombs. The tail section

  • GBU-24 Paveway III

    The Guided Bomb Unit-24 (GBU-24) is a laser guided bomb used to destroy hardened targets. It consists of the nose-mounted laser guidance unit and the Paveway III tail assembly fitted to a 2,000-pound BLU-109 bomb with its special steel casing. The original Paveway I demonstrated the usefulness of

  • GAU-8/A Avenger

    On Nov. 16, 1970, the Air Force issued a request for proposal for a 30mm rapid fire cannon to use in the A-X Close Air Support aircraft. In June of 1971 General Electric and Philco Ford were selected to build the prototype gun, designated GAU-8. Besides development of the gun, the contract called

  • F-102 Armament

    The missiles mounted on this F-102 are from the Hughes "Falcon" family of air-to-air missiles. In the weapons bay are AIM-4A radar guided missiles in the forward positions and AIM-4D infra-red guided missiles in the rear position. On the bottom center rail is an AIM-26A, a kiloton range nuclear