Air Force CBU105 Cluster Bomb “ONE BOMB That Can KILL 40 TANKS”

US air force the CBU 105 has served the US Air Force very well. The CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon is the United States Air Force 1,000-pound-class non-guided Cluster Bomb Unit (CBU).

Here is a video of the Air Force CBU 105 cluster bomb “One ONE BOMB that can kill 40 TANKS”

The CBU-97 in conjunction with the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser guidance tail kit, which converts it to a precision-guided weapon, is designated CBU-105. The CBU-97 consists of an SUU-66/B tactical munition dispenser that contains 10 BLU-108 submunitions.

Each submunition contains four hockey-puck-shaped sensor-fused projectiles called Skeets.

These detect target vehicles, such as tanks, armoured personnel carriers, trucks and other support vehicles, and fire a kinetic energy penetrator downwards at them.

 

Operation

The 40 Skeets scan an area of 1,500 by 500 feet using infrared and laser sensors, seeking targets by pattern-matching.

When a Skeet finds a target it fires an explosively-formed penetrator to destroy it.

If a Skeet fails to find a target, it self-destructs 50 feet above the ground

If this fails, a backup timer disables the Skeet.

These features are intended to avoid later civilian casualties from unexploded munitions and result in an unexploded-ordnance rate of less than 1%.

As the CBU-97 approaches its designated aim point, the dispenser skin is severed into three panels by an explosive cutting charge.

The slipstream peels away these panels, exposing the 10 BLU-108 submunitions.

An airbag ejects the forward five submunitions, then five in the aft bay.

Following a preset timeline, the submunitions deploy parachutes so that they are spaced about 100 feet apart.

Then each submunition releases its chute

fires a rocket motor that stops its descent and spins it on its longitudinal axis, and releases Skeets 90 degrees apart, in pairs.

READMORE: Aircraft Carrier Cannon that Can Fire 4,500 Rounds a Minute

Each spinning Skeet makes a coning motion that allows it to scan a circular area on the ground.

The laser sensor detects changes in apparent terrain height such as the contour of a vehicle.

At the same time, infrared sensors detect heat signatures, such as those emitted by the engine of a vehicle.

When the combination of height contours and heat signatures indicative of a target is detected

the Skeet detonates, firing an explosively formed penetrator (EFP)

A kinetic energy penetrator, down into the target at high speed, is sufficient to penetrate armour plating and destroy what is protected by it.

Even well-armoured vehicles such as main battle tanks, while having massive armour protection on the front and sides

are only lightly armoured above, and relatively easily penetrated.

Each bomb can spread penetrators over an area of 15 acres or more.

According to an ABC News consultant, an attack by this bomb would basically stop an armoured convoy from moving down a road.

While the bomb was designed during the Cold War for fighter bombers flying at a low altitude below radar cover to attack Soviet tanks. A single B-52 high-altitude heavy bomber can destroy an entire armoured division with these bombs

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2 comments

  1. Thought provoking and very informative article

  2. Thought provoking and very informative article.

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