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CRANE, Ind. (July 22, 2015) — Crane Army Ammunition Activity, or CAAA, is supporting U.S. and coalition warfighters conducting airstrikes in Operation Inherent Resolve, the effort to eliminate threats posed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, and other terrorist groups in the region of Iraq and Syria, by being the primary facility for renovating the Navy’s general purpose aircraft bomb inventory.Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, which manages the inventory used by the Navy in training and combat roles, depends on the Army at the land-locked site to renovate its Mark 80 series and penetrator bombs carried by planes such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18E Super Hornet.The 500-, 1000- and 2000-pound bombs have no shelf life, with some still in storage manufactured as far back as the Vietnam War-era, but periodic renovation is needed to keep the Navy’s stock up-to-date. These munitions can be assembled into multiple configurations depending on mission requirements such as weather, drop altitude, speed and the intended target’s location or movement. Configurations routinely constructed include the so-called “smart bombs,” which can be guided by lasers or other means to a target as well as other fuzed bombs, mines and destructors.

Source: Crane Army key for Navy aircraft bomb renovation | Article | The United States Army

Mostly I just wanted to share the before and after pictures. The basic M82 (and other Mk 80 series) bombs have been in service since Ed Heinemann designed them alongside his A-3 and A-4 attack jets, virtually unchanged.

Well, there have been a few changes. The modern version of the Mk82 is the BLU-111, using a thermally insensitive explosive, and for Navy use, covered with an ablative coating to increase resistance to cook-off in case of fires. As the article notes, however, the old Mk82 is still in use as well.

You see the basic bomb unit above. You’ll notice there are no fins on it. The bomb itself can be mated with simple fins, hi drag fins (Snakeye), a ballute high drag device, with a laser seeker and guidance fins, with a JDAM guidance kit, or any number of other interesting configurations. The fundamental soundness of the design allows it to be used as the basis for any number of precision guided weapon systems.