(United States)

Notes: A very common aircraft weapon, this four-round pod fires 5” diameter Mk-71 Zuni unguided rockets. It can be carried by most any Western aircraft and some helicopters. The actual solid-fuel rocket has a max range of 3.5NM under ideal conditions, and comes in a bewildering variety of variants, including HE unitary, HE frag, AP, phosphorus incendiary, ECM chaff, illumination, marker smoke, and inert practice.

LAU-10C is the USAF and Army version, the LAU-10D is for USN and USMC aircraft. They are externally identical.

Sadly, this weapon was responsible for one of the worst tragedies in USN history in July 1967, when a Zuni motor was ignited by strong radio signals from USS Forrestal’s search radar. The Zuni fired into a group of fully fueled and armed planes on the carrier's flight deck, starting one of the worst shipboard fires in history.

Combat usage: Zunis were used heavily during Vietnam and every American conflict since.