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Mk82 snakeye

pzgr40

pzgr40

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Question; is the 500 Lb Mk82 snakeye (with the pop out cross shaped retarder fins) used (or allowed to be used) in combination with the 1 meter fuze probe extender (daisy cutter)? Does anyone have a picture or a description/manual of this being used. I cannot find any picture of this combination on the internet.
Thanks in advance.
Regards, DJH
 
Thanks Jolly, it helps a bit. It is however an acad drawing and not a service description (TM) or a picture of service under a plane. The problem is that with an acad drawing one can draw any desired bomb combination, regardless of what the official manuals prescribe. I am still hoping for a TM , a picture or a servicemen who can tell me if this is a (much/normally/hardly/never) used combination, and if not, why so (no use, impractical, dangerous in some way). It is for a museum display.
Regards, DJH
 
DJ, I'm not sure if you get the Squadron-Signal publications in your part of the world, but they are small soft-cover books that have lots of photos, mainly for modelers to use to assemble and paint plastic models. They are specific to individual aircraft, or vehicles. Veterans share their photos from the war zones where they were stationed. It is the best source for in-theatre photos. These books are usually sold in hobby shops or book stores with military sections. Look for books that cover Vietnam Aircraft such as phantoms, F-105s, F-100s, etc.

A second source would be YouTube. I would swear there is video from the strike camera on a plane that shows the Snakeyes with Daisy cutter fuzes falling away from the plane and exploding in the jungle.
 

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DJ,
I have looked through my documents and books, with no luck. I suspect that this may be due to a couple of factors, at least early on.

The Snakeye fin assembly was a Navy development, part of the "eye" weapon series done in the 1960s. The fuze extension rod, as I understand it, was an Air force development.

The fuze normally used with the extension rod was the M904. The M904 could be and frequently was used with the snakeye fins. Hard to make out in the attached photo, but those are definitely M904 fuzes. Most of the early photos I've found so far of snakeye fins being used are on Naval aircraft.

So while you have potential cross-service acceptance and supply problems, if you accept most snakeyes being used initially on Naval aircraft, then you also may have the problem of room available on carriers. In the second photo below you can see what is decribed as a portion of the deck of the USS Saratoga. How much more additional room would be necessary if you added extensions? Just a thought.

Photos from Bill Gunston's book "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament".

1b.jpg1c.jpg
 
And people wondered why I wanted to be an AO when I enlisted. Second pic says it all. At least I got to be a GMM.
 
My airforce T.O. on bomb loading etc does not show the snakeye and fuze extender as being used together. A similar navy pubs pretty much says the samething
 
Thanks for the awnsers. So it will be the M904 in the nose and a snakeye tail. No fuze extender version.
Thanks for the trouble of looking up the info for me.
Regards, DJH
 
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If I remember rightly, I think the Snake Eyes also used a different tail fuze than standard. FMU 54 rings a bell, but I'm not up on my air ordnance. Cheers, Bruce.
 
MK346 with a halo vane assembly! Hard fuze to find -
 
Hello! I have times pictures of a fuze made probably also into a Snakeye the bomb was built! The safety device sign is French marked.
 

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pzgr40 said:
Hi Jeff, do you have a picture or description of that fuze?
Thanks in advance,
Regards, DJH
Click to expand...

DJ,
clockwork long delay, often times mistaken with the M905 tail fuze because of it's similar appearance. It has an anti-removal cam that locks it in place, so often the ones you see in collections are very chewed up after someone screws up and puts it in a bomb and then has to force it out by breaking the cam. It was always a real pain in the ass to work on during exercises and the key id feature on approach was the halo vane assembly as shown in Hazord's posted link.

MK346 Mod 0.jpg
 
Hello, Hazord,

The Snakeye uses a TRD-Tail Retarding Unit, so what does MAU signify? Am I correct in thinking that the TRD14 or 15 does not have inclined tabs to spin, so no need for a Halo arming vane? (Perhaps the wire ring is to prevent centrifugal force from changing the pitch of vanes?) Also MAU moves drag fins forward-Perhaps this leads to lighter and stronger tail than backward moving drag plates in TRD14?

Thanks,
Martin.
 
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