Mark 77 bomb

Mark 77
A Mark 77 bomb being loaded on an F/A-18 Hornet, 1993.
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Wars	Operation Desert Storm War on Terror Operation Iraqi Freedom War in Afghanistan Battle of Tora Bora
Specifications
Mass	750 lb (340 kg)

The Mark 77 bomb (MK-77) is a United States 750-pound (340 kg) air-dropped incendiary bomb carrying 110 U.S. gallons (416 L; 92 imp gal) of a fuel gel mix which is the direct successor to napalm.

The MK-77 is the primary incendiary weapon currently in use by the United States military. Instead of the gasoline, polystyrene, and benzene mixture used in napalm bombs, the MK-77 uses kerosene-based fuel with a lower concentration of benzene. The Pentagon has claimed that the MK-77 has less impact on the environment than napalm. The mixture reportedly also contains an oxidizing agent, making it more difficult to put out once ignited, as well as white phosphorus.^[1][2]

The effects of MK-77 bombs are similar to those of napalm. The official designation of World War II-era napalm bombs was the Mark 47.^[3]

Use of aerial incendiary bombs against civilian populations, including against military targets in civilian areas, was banned in the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Protocol III. However, the United States reserved the right to use incendiary weapons against military objectives located in concentrations of civilians where such use would be determined to cause fewer casualties and/or less collateral damage than alternative weapons.^[4]