CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
The CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition (CEM) is a
The basic CBU-87 is designed to be dropped from an
Each CBU-87 consists of an SUU-65B canister, a
When dropped from an aircraft, the bomb starts spinning. There are 6 speeds that can adjust the bomb's rate of spin. After it drops to a certain altitude, the canister breaks open and the submunitions are released. Each bomblet has a ring of tabs at the tail end; these orient the bomblet and deploy an inflatable decelerator to decrease the falling speed of the bomblet. When the submunitions hit the ground, they will cover a large area and the CBU-87 can be adjusted so it can cover a smaller or wider area. Depending on the rate of spin and the altitude at which the canister opens, it can cover an area between 20×20 meters (low release altitude and a slow rate of spin) to 120×240 meters (high release altitude and a high rate of spin).
Manufacturers and the Department of Defense have claimed that each bomb's failure rate is about 5%.[2] This equates to about 10 bomblets not exploding on impact of the 202 bomblets dropped. Landmine Action claimed the failure rate of the BLU-97/Bs used in the Kosovo campaign was higher, between 7 and 8 percent.[3]
Operational use
During Operation
On 7 May 1999, a CBU-87 was used in one of the most serious incidents involving civilian deaths and cluster bombs, the Niš cluster bombing.
References
- ^ "Lockheed Martin WCMD". designation-systems.net.
- ^ "DoD News Briefing, Tuesday, June 22, 1999". Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Cluster munitions in Kosovo: Analysis of use, contamination and casualties (Report). Landmine Action. February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-06.