To study the failure mechanism and energy absorption of carbon fiber reinforced polymer （CFRP） composites subjected to small-quantity and near-field blast loading，free-field blast tests and scanning electron microscope （SEM） tests were carried out on CFRP laminates. Meanwhile， a damage model was established based on the 3D Hashin failure criterion， and the dynamic response of CFRP laminates under near-field blast loading were simulated. Combined with the test results， the failure mechanism and energy absorption of CFRP laminates were analyzed. Results show that there are differences in the failure modes between the facing and back blast surfaces of CFRP laminates. The matrix cracking， fiber fracture or center perforation mainly appear on the facing blast surface， and the delamination occurs at the fiber-matrix interface. The large-area delamination failure and the fragment dispersion of the back blast surface are mainly due to the influence of the reflected tension wave， and the delamination of appears inside the matrix. During the response process of laminates， the high stress area is concentrated on the boundary of the center perforation and distributed along the fiber direction， and the stress levels of 0° ply and 90° ply are larger than that of ±45° ply. Compared with the facing blast surface of laminates， the layers of the back blast surface absorb and transform large energy， accounting for 52%-56% of the total energy absorption.