BLU-109
The BLU-109/B is a hardened bunker buster penetration bomb used by the United States Air Force (BLU is an acronym for Bomb Live Unit). In addition to the US, it is part of the armament of the air forces of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Israel, Netherlands, Norway,Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates.
Also recorded as Q2199 · BLU109
BLU-109
USAF · Public domain
- Name
- BLU-109
- Field
- bunker buster
- Region
- United States
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The BLU-109/B is a hardened bunker buster penetration bomb used by the United States Air Force (BLU is an acronym for Bomb Live Unit). In addition to the US, it is part of the armament of the air forces of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Israel, Netherlands, Norway,Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for BLU-109. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — BLU-109 • Type — Free-fall penetration bomb (guided when equipped as JDAM or Paveway) • Service — 1985-present • Wars — * War in Afghanistan • Iraq War • Gaza war • Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) • 2026 Iran war • Length — 7 ft • Diameter — 14.6 in • Origin — United States • Is Explosive — yes • Used By — United States Air Force Israeli Air Force • Weight — 2,000 lb • Filling — Tritonal • Filling Weight — 550 lb • Illustration — A BLU-109 aboard a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon configured as a JDAM • Illustration — F-16I (Israeli Air Force) with a BLU-109 JDAM, bunker buster penetration bomb
Design
Design
The BLU-109/B has a steel casing about 1 inch thick. Its warhead is filled with 550 lb of tritonal. It has a mechanical-electrical delayed-action FMU-143 tail-fuze. The BLU-109 entered service in 1985. It is also used as the warhead of some marks of the GBU-15 electro-optically guided bomb, the GBU-24 Paveway III and GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bombs, as well as the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and AGM-130 air-to-surface missile.
Variants
Variants
The BLU-118 is reportedly a thermobaric explosive filler variation on the BLU-109 casing and basic bomb design. It contains PBXIH-135, an aluminized enhanced blast explosive. In 2015, General Dynamics started a $7.2 million development of a version called HAMMER, which is intended to destroy chemical and biological substances by spreading dozens of Kinetic Fireballs Incendiaries (KFI) (not explosions) inside a bunker. The KFIs evolved out of the earlier Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program by Exquadrum, Inc. of Adelanto, California.
Operators
Operators
The BLU-109 has been sold to key US allies including South Korea, Israel, Greece, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan, and Turkey • Greece: Hellenic Air Force • Israel: Israeli Air Force • Morocco: Royal Moroccan Air Force • Netherlands: Royal Netherlands Air Force • Pakistan: Pakistan Air Force • Saudi Arabia: Royal Saudi Air Force • Serbia: Serbian Air Force • South Korea: Republic of Korea Air Force • Turkey: Turkish Air Force •: United Arab Emirates Air Force • United States: United States Air Force
Operational history
Operational history
In late 2023, the United States delivered 100 BLU-109 bombs to Israel. Israeli F-15I fighter jets are believed to have used BLU-109s with JDAM guidance kits in the strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on 27 September 2024. It was also reported that Israel used BLU-109s in a July 2024 attack on Al-Mawasi that killed al-Qassam Brigades chief Mohammed Deif and al-Qassam Brigades Khan Yunis head Rafa Salama. BLU-109 bombs were used by the US in combat in the 2026 Iran war.
Bombs of F-16 Fighting Falcon at Monte Real Air Base
Threeohsix
Bomb of F-16 Fighting Falcon at Monte Real Air Base
Threeohsix
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.BLU-109/B fact sheet - Hill AFB, USAF
- 2.BLU-116/B. Forecast International. 4. 2004.
- 3.J. Hart, Russell. Defeating Hard And Deeply Buried Targets in 2035. Defense Technical Information Center (.mil). 7-8. 15 February 2012.
- 4.Gulf War - Air Power Survey, Volume IV - Weapons, Tactics, and Training. U.S. Department of Defense. 71.
- 5.Chow Seng, Chor. A Business Case Analysis of the Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF) Joint Cap Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD). Defense Technical Information Center (.mil) Naval Postgraduate School. 1. December 2008.
- 6.GlobalSecurity.org. BLU-118/B Thermobaric Weapon.
- 7.Little, Robert. A race to get a new bomb for cave war. The Baltimore Sun.
- 8.Drew, James. Pentagon taps General Dynamics to test fireball bunker bomb.
- 9.The Most "Political" of All Bombs.
- 10.BLU-109/B (Bomb Live Unit). www.haf.gr.
- 11.US sends ‘bunker buster’ bombs to Israel for war on Gaza, report says. Al Jazeera. 2 December 2023.
- 12.Israel likely used U.S.-made 2,000-pound bombs in Nasrallah strike, visuals show. The Washington Post. 29 September 2024.
- 13.US-made 2,000-pound bombs likely used in strike that killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah, CNN analysis shows. CNN. 30 September 2024.
- 14.Israel Used US Bombs In Strike On Gaza's "Safe Zone" That Killed 92. NDTV.
- 15.'US vs Iran': Why the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford are carrying more bunker-busters than ever before. Wion.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- BloodhoundTerminology
- blowgunTerminology
- BlowpipeTerminology
- BLU-108Terminology
- BLU-116A/BTerminology
- BLU-14Terminology
- BLU-3 PineappleTerminology
- BLU-43 DragontoothTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with BLU-109?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.