MK 83 Warhead Effectiveness Tests
Abstract
The Coastal Systems Station has been tasked by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEASYSCOM) Program Engineering Office 407 (PMO 407), Mine Warfare Systems, to develop Shallow Water Mine Countermeasure (SWMCM) systems that will clear mines and obstacles in a lane from the sea onto the high water mark on the beach at the beginning of an amphibious assault. One of these SWMCM projects, Obstacle Breaching System (OBS), is tasked to remove all man-made and natural obstacles in-stride at the beginning of an amphibious assault. The Obstacle Breaching System Project first evaluated existing munition systems already in the Department of Defense (DoD) inventory and concluded that the Mk 83 Bomb in the Air Inflatable Retarder (AIR) configuration held the most promise to explosively clear obstacles in a lane. Mk 83 Warheads were obtained and statically tested on land and in the water at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida from March 17 to December 1, 1993. The test results are described in the Mk 83 Final Test Report, dated June 1994. The purpose of the Mk 83 Warhead Effectiveness Tests were to determine the kill radius of the Mk 83 bomb against various obstacle types on land and in the water, verify, previous analysis and modeling of the Mk 83's effectiveness in obstacle clearance, and to determine cratering effects of a Mk 83 detonation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA526142
Entities
People
- Stephen J. Schelfhout
Organizations
- Naval Surface Warfare Center