CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
The U.S. CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition (CEM) is the newest standard air-delivered cluster bomb unit (CBU) in the U.S. arsenal.46 It has been in the U.S. Air Force inventory since 1986 (and in production since 1984), and has replaced aging and less effective Vietnam-era cluster bomb units and antitank mines. A myriad of delivery settings (high and low altitudes, extremely high speeds, and various toss modes) makes it a significant advance over older bombs. Combining light antiarmor capabilities with antipersonnel and incendiary effects, it is the only weapon in the U.S. inventory to include all three Akill mechanisms.@
The 1000-lb. class cluster bomb is compatible with virtually all current tactical fighter aircraft, U.S. and foreign.47 It is manufactured by Alliant Techsystems of Minnesota.
The weapon contains 202 bomblets (designated with the nomenclature BLU-97/B). The bomblets (officially called Acombined effects bomblets,@ CEBs) are seven inches long, with a two-and-a-half inch diameter and a weight of 3.41 pounds.
In contrast with earlier cluster bombs, the ground pattern size and shape of the bomblet dispersal can be determined in the CBU-87 by setting the spin rate of the dispenser and the height of burst. A single CBU-87 set at a low spin rate (e.g., 500 rpm) can disperse bomblets to an area 120 by 200 feet, with bomblets scattered an average of nine feet apart. A range of impact patterns from 70 by 70 feet to 150 by 450 feet can be achieved depending on altitude.48 In general, the bomblets cover an area of 800 by 400 feet, given medium- to high-altitude delivery.49
In order to even more fully control the accuracy of the weapon, the CBU-87 is being upgraded under the Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD) program. This is a retrofitted tail kit manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
The British BL755 air-delivered cluster bomb is carried by all active Royal Air Force and Royal Navy attack aircraft, most notably the Harrier, Jaguar, and Tornado. A Adual-role@ weapon similar to the U.S. CBU-87, it is designed to attack a range of both Ahard@ and Asoft@ targets. The TMD weighs 600 lb, and contains 147 Abeer-can size@ bomblets similar in appearance to the U.S. BLU-97 bomblet delivered by the CBU-87.50 It entered service with the RAF in 1972.
When the BL755 is dropped, the primary fuses arm. After a set interval, the initial cartridge is fired, which produces the gas pressure to blow off the two-part TMD body Askins,@ and fire the main cartridge. Each bomblet is 5.87 inches (0.15m) when it is fired. This extends to 24.69 inches (0.62m) once the nose probe and retarding parachute extend. The BL755 is manufactured by Hunting Engineering.51
The BL755 cluster bomb was originally designed for low-altitude delivery only, and in the Gulf war proved ineffective for medium-altitude strikes. During the war, the RAF used U.S. CBU-87s.52
A modified AR@ variant of the BL755, called the RBL755, was developed after the Gulf war to provide medium-altitude operations. This variant of the BL755 has been used by NATO in Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia. It can be dropped from medium altitudes (above 10,000 ft).53
The U.S. CBU-89/B is the latest cluster bomb in the Gator family of scatterable mines (which also includes the older CBU-78/79 U.S. Navy weapon). The 1000-lb SUU-64/B TMD of the CBU-89 holds seventy-two antiarmor and twenty-two antipersonnel landmines (or sixty mines in the case of the CBU-78). Gator=s mines are the BLU-91/B antitank mine and BLU-92/B antipersonnel mine. The BLU-91/B antitank mine detects targets, distinguishes armored vehicles, and detonates when the target reaches the most vulnerable approach point. The BLU-92/B antipersonnel mine serves to discourage clearing of the antitank mines. The system is built by Aerojet Ordnance Company.
The mines arm immediately upon impact with the ground. Each has an integrated fuse: the antitank mine has a magnetic influence fuse to sense armor, and the antipersonnel mine has a deployed trip wire that activates when personnel walk on or disturb it. The antipersonnel mine has a fragmenting case warhead that is triggered by the trip wires. Upon activation, the mine sends high-velocity steel fragments in a horizontal plane over a wide area. Another feature of the Gator is the random-delay function, allowing for detonations over several days to provide area denial and harassment. Both mines also have a programmable self-destruct feature which can be set just prior to aircraft takeoff using a selector switch on the dispenser.
Gator can be delivered by tactical aircraft or heavy bombers. The minefields are used for area denial, diversion of moving ground forces, or to immobilize targets to supplement other direct attack weapons. During Operation Deliberate Force over Bosnia in 1995, the CBU-89 was slated to be used, according to a U.S. Air Force study: A60 Gator mines were to be used for area denial and funneling of troops and equipment during BSA [Bosnian Serb Army] withdrawals, but the plan was never implemented because of the cease fire and the desire to avoid non-combatant casualties, fratricide, and civilian vehicle damage.@54
Table 1
| |||
Function/
|
Weapons Designation |
Sub-munition |
Number |
Ground Delivered |
|||
105mm Artillery |
M444 ICM |
M39 |
18 |
M915/M916 DPICM |
M80 |
42 | |
155mm Artillery |
M449 ICM |
M43Al |
60 |
M864 DPICM |
M42/M46 |
72 | |
M483A1 DPICM |
M42/M46 |
64/24 | |
203mm (8 inch) Artillery |
M404 ICM* |
M43 |
104 |
M509A1 DPICM* |
M42/M46 |
180 | |
MLRS |
M26 |
M77 |
644 |
M26A1 |
M77 |
518 | |
ATACMS |
M74 |
1000 | |
Air Delivered |
|||
MK15* |
M40 |
2020 | |
Rockeye I |
MK20 |
MK118 |
247 |
MK22 |
MK38 |
2020 | |
CBU-7/A* |
BLU-18 |
1200 | |
CBU-12/A* |
BLU-17/B |
213 | |
CBU-24/B* |
BLU-26/B |
670 | |
CBU-25/A* |
BLU-24/B |
132 | |
CBU-29/B* |
BLU-36/B |
670 | |
CBU-46/A* |
BLU-66/B |
444 | |
CBU-49/B* |
BLU-59/B |
670 | |
CBU-52/B |
BLU-61A/B |
217 | |
CBU-58A/B |
BLU-63/B |
650 | |
Rockeye II |
CBU-59/B |
BLU-77/B |
717 |
CBU-60/A* |
BLU-24/B |
264 | |
CBU-63/B* |
M40 |
2025 | |
CBU-70/B* |
BLU-85/B |
79 | |
CBU-71/B |
BLU-86/B |
650 | |
CBU-75A/B* |
BLU-63/86 |
1420/355 | |
Gator |
CBU-78/79 |
BLU-91/B-92/B |
45/15 |
CBU-81/A |
BLU-49A/B |
45 | |
CEM |
CBU-87/B |
BLU-97/B |
202 |
CEM WCMD |
CBU-87/B |
BLU-97/B |
202 |
Gator |
CBU-89/B |
BLU-91/B-92/B |
92 |
Sensor Fused Weapon |
CBU-97 |
BLU-108/B |
10 |
SFW WCMD |
CBU-105 |
BLU-108/B |
10 |
JSOW |
AGM-154A |
BLU-97/B |
145 |
JSOW |
AGM-154B |
BLU-108/B |
6 |
* Obsolete or no longer in widespread active use by the U.S. military.
The CBU-72/B containing the BLU-73A/B is classified as a fuel-air explosive, and contains three submunitions.
AGM: air-to-ground munition
ATACMS: Army Tactical Missile System
BLU: Bomb Live Unit
CBU: Cluster Bomb Unit
CEM: Combined Effects Munition
DPICM: Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition
ICM: Improved Conventional Munition
JSOW: Joint Standoff Weapon
MLRS: Multiple Launch Rocket System
SFW: Sensor Fused Weapon
WCMD: Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser
Source: Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Air Force, Air Land Sea Application Center, UXO: Multiservice Procedures for Operations in an Unexploded Ordnance Environment (FM 100-38, MCRP 4-5.1, NWP TP 3-02.4.1, ACCPAM 10-752, PACAFPAM 10-752, USAFEPAM 10-752), July 1996.
Table 2
| |||
Type |
Number Used |
||
United States |
Air Force |
Navy |
Marines |
CBU-52/58/71 |
21,6961 |
0 |
0 |
CBU-59 |
0 |
0 |
186 |
CBU-78 Gator |
0 |
148 |
61 |
CBU-87 |
10,035 |
0 |
0 |
CBU-89 Gator |
1,105 |
0 |
0 |
Mk20 Rockeye |
5,345 |
6,814 |
16,014 |
Subtotal |
38,181 |
6,962 |
16,261 |
Coalition |
RAF |
||
BL755 |
8 |
||
CBU-87 |
387 |
||
Subtotal |
395 |
||
Total |
61,799* |
* Does not include a complete count of allied use of cluster bombs, particularly French and Saudi.
Sources: U.S. Air Force, Gulf War Air Power Survey (GWAPS), Volume III, Part I, p. 235; Volume IV, Part I, p. 65, Volume V, Part I, pp. 550-552; House of Commons, Preliminary Lessons of Operation Granby (July 1991), p. 86. Sources vary on the number of CBU-52/58/71 cluster bombs expended, some stating 17,831. The higher official number was chosen; see GWAPS, Volume III, Part I, pp. 234, 256.
46 Much of the detail on CBU-87 and BLU-97 characteristics and operations is derived from Leggette, AThe Air Force's New Cluster Weapon@; fact sheets prepared by Alliant Techsystems and Aerojet; and the fact sheet appended to Letter, Department of the Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, May 18, 1994, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
47 The dispenser has been approved for use on the A-10, AV-8B, F-15, F-16, F/A-18, B-1, and B-52 aircraft. International aircraft currently certified for the CBU-87 include the British Hawk and Harrier, French Mirage V, German Alpha Jet, Japanese F-1 and FX, and multinational Tornado and Jaguar.
48 The spin rate can be set from 0-2500 rpm. The radar sensor allows selection of heights of burst ranging from 300 to 3,000 feet. See ACombined Effects Munitions (CEM) Safe Separation,@ USAF Fighter Weapons Review, Summer 1992, p. 33; and Edmond Dantes, ACBU-87 Combined Effects Munition: The Pilot=s Weapon of Choice,@ Asian Defence Journal, March 1991, p. 79.
49 Information provided to Human Rights Watch by the U.S. Air Force in 1999.
50 Phillips, ACluster-bombing ends frustration.@
51 Information provided by the Royal Air Force, located at http://www.raf.mod.uk/front_line/a_sshort.html.
52 U.K., House of Commons, Preliminary Lessons of Operation Granby (July 1991), p. 86.
53 Nick Cook, ANATO battles against the elements,@ Jane=s Defence Weekly, April 21, 1999.
54 U.S. Air Force, Air University, ADeliberate Force: A Case Study in Effective Air Campaigning, Final Report of the Air University Balkans Air Campaign Study,@ June 1998, p. 8-33.
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