The Mk-20 Rockeye II or "Rockeye" is an anti-armor cluster bomb. The 247 coffee-can sized bomblets inside are released gradually as the bomb descends and effectively blanket an area the size of an American football field. The Mk 20 is an unguided free fall ("dumb") bomb.
The Rockeye was first introduced in 1968 but didn't see extensive use until Operation: Desert Storm when 27,987 were dropped on various Iraqi targets. (More than half of these were delivered by the U.S. Marine Corps.)
The Rockeye's dispenser is also used for the Gator mine dispersal system and the CBU-87 cluster bomb. |