Mark 81 Bomb - Variants

Variants

• Mark 81 Snakeye fitted with a Mark 14 TRD (Tail Retarding Device) to increase the bomb's drag after release. The bomb's increased air-time, coupled with its (relatively) forgiving safe drop envelope, allowed for very low-level bombing runs at slower speed. Used commonly in the close air support (CAS) role in Vietnam (prior to wider availability of GBU precision ordnance). Nicknamed "snake", as in the typical Vietnam CAS loadout of "snake and nape" (250-lb. Mk-81 Snakeye bombs and 500-lb. M-47 napalm canisters).

• GBU-29 Joint Direct Attack Munition, a precision guided version of the Mark 81 (cancelled).