Mark 77 bomb
The Mark 77 bomb (Mk 77) is an incendiary bomb with a napalm- compliant incendiary mixture. As a free-fall bomb , it cannot be steered after being dropped. It is a further development of the napalm bombs used by the USA in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The bomb bursts on impact and spreads the fire agent over a large area. The Mk-77 consists of a relatively light aluminum container that can hold around 284 liters (= 75 American gallons ) of fire agent.
Calls
The Mk-77 is the only incendiary bomb currently in use by the American armed forces. About 500 Mk-77s were dropped during the Second Gulf War . They were primarily deployed by the US Marines' AV-8B Harrier and used to ignite oil-filled trenches built as a barrier in southern Kuwait. In the Third Gulf War in 2003, the US forces also used the Mk-77. The United States Department of Defense claims to have destroyed its napalm arsenal in 2001, but refused to abandon the Mk-77 because the incendiary agent contains kerosene instead of gasoline and therefore cannot be classified as napalm. The substance is “remarkably similar”, but it causes “less environmental damage”.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ tagesschau.de, August 8, 2003: "USA threw fire bombs in the Iraq war" ( Memento from October 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ James W. Crawley: Officials confirm dropping firebombs on Iraqi troops , August 5, 2003, sandiegouniontribune.com ( Memento of September 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive )