BLU-116


The BLU-116 is a United States Air Force bomb, designed as an enhanced bunker buster penetration weapon, designed to penetrate deep into rock or concrete and destroy hard targets.
The BLU-116 is the same shape, size, and weight and twice the penetration as the BLU-109 penetration bomb first deployed in the 1980s. The BLU-116 has a lightweight outer shell around a dense, heavy metal penetrator core. The shape and size mean that the BLU-116 could be used by unmodified existing aircraft and bomb guidance units such as the GPS guided GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition and GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bomb.

Specifications

From:
Some organizations have linked the BLU-116 design to Depleted uranium, with references to a DU penetrator option in US Patent 6,389,977 "Shrouded Aerial Bomb" which describes a weapon similar to the BLU-116. Two of the claims make reference to the use of tungsten or depleted uranium to make the casing of the bomb, however there is no evidence that either material was used in this weapon and specifications indicate use of a nickel-cobalt steel alloy.