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Weapon Fact Sheet 5: CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapon

INTRODUCTION

The CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapon is a United
States Air Force 1,000-pound-class (450 kg)
non-guided (free fall) Cluster Bomb Unit
(CBU). It was developed and produced by
Textron Defence Systems and is designed to be
effective against all types of armoured vehicles
currently in service across the world. The
CBU-97 was first deployed during Operation

Allied Force when the United States and

NATO entered the Kosovo War, but were not
used. Sensor-fused weapons were first fired in
combat during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

DESIGN

The CBU-97 is designed to be deployed by US
Air Force tactical aircraft from altitudes of 200
feet (60 m) Above Ground Level (AGL) to
20,000 feet (6100 m) Above Mean Sea Level
(AMSL) at speeds of 250 to 650 knots (460 to

1,200 km/h). It is a free-falling weapon and

relies on the aircraft to aim it before it drops.

SPECIFICATION

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. Once deployed the skeets have

the ability to detect targets and fire an

explosively formed penetrator. The weapon is 7
ft. 7 inches (234 cm) in length, has a diameter
of 16 inches (40 cm) and weighs
approximately 930 lbs. (420Kg). The base cost
for each CBU-97 is US$ 360,000. When the
CBU-97 is used in conjunction with the Wind
Corrected Munitions Dispenser tail kit, it is
designated the CBU-105.

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OPERATION

As the CBU-97 approaches its designated aim-point, at the pre-set height of function (HOF) 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. Unlike the CBU-87 the CBU-97 does not spin, and therefore
has no RPM settings. Furthermore the HOF setting does not affect the coverage pattern of the
BLUs/skeets when they deploy as it does for the CBU-87 due to the way in which the BLUs
operate.

BLU-108/B Submunition!
The BLU-108/B submunition is used in the CBU-97/105 SFW and variants of the Joint Stand-Off
Weapon (JSOW). The BLU-108/B submunition weighs approximately 60 pounds, contains four
warheads (skeets), an orientation and stabilisation system, a radar altimeter and a small rocket
motor. After the BLU-108 is released from its dispenser, it is decelerated by a drogue parachute,
and then oriented by a main parachute to a vertical position. The rocket motor within the
submunition fires, imparting spin and upward velocity, upon reaching the proper spin rate and
altitude, the 4 heat-sensing Skeets are released at right angles. The dual-mode active (laser) and
passive (infrared) sensors mounted on the skeet provide optimal performance against a wide variety
of targets. The active sensor performs target profiling, while the passive sensor detects the target's
thermal signature. When a valid target is detected, the EFP is fired, which defeats the target from the
top.

Each warhead fires an explosively-formed projectile triggered by a two-colour infrared sensor. At a

pre-set altitude sensed by a radar altimeter, a rocket motor fires to spin the submunition and initiate
an ascent. The submunition then releases its four projectiles, which are lofted over the target area.
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The projectile's sensor detects a vehicle's infrared signature, and an explosively formed penetrator
fires at the heat source. If no target is detected, the projectiles automatically self-destruct after a preset time interval, in order to help limit collateral damage caused by unexploded ordnance.

The BLU-108 contains 4 smart Skeet warheads. The skeet's Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP)
is the lethal component of the warhead.
The one pound copper EFP, moving at
hypersonic speeds, performs a kinetic
energy kill of the target, thus minimising
collateral damage. Each skeet warhead
also incorporates a fragmentation ring to
defeat soft targets and their ancillary
equipment. The Skeet's centre core
projectile is designed to defeat heavy
armoured vehicles. Effective against both
hard and soft targets, the BLU-108 target
set includes:

Main battle tanks

Mobile missile launchers

Air defence sites

Parked aircraft

Armoured personnel carriers

Littoral targets

The skeets are equipped with two built-in selfdestruct features to help reduce the risk of
unexploded ordnance being left on the
battlefield. A timeout feature instructs the Skeet
to self-destruct within seconds if a valid target
has not been detected. An altitude feature
causes detonation to happen a short distance
above the ground. These important features
significantly reduce the potential for
unexploded ordnance on the battlefield-an
issue for many older submunition products.

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Textron Industries CBU-97/BLU-108/B Demo Video

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EMPLOYMENT

The CBU-97 and its BLU-108/B submunitions in DCS are a highly effective anti-armour weapon
system, especially against large formations of main battle tanks.

While HOF does not alter the effective area of the CBU-97 as it does with the CBU-87 it is still
very important. With the CBU-97 HOF controls only the altitude at which the canisters open and
begin dispensing the BLU-108/B submunitions, the submunitions themselves ALWAYS function
the same way and disperse their
skeets from the same altitude.
Therefore HOF only real effect
is on the time the BLU-108s
will decent on their parachutes
before they activate their rocket
motors and spin up to deploy
the skeets, and as the this
always occurs at around 200 ft.
AGL, it can have a large impact
on the time to impact and the
accuracy of the weapon
(especially in high winds).

The lowest practical HOF

should always be set for the
CBU-97, (usually 700-900 ft.)
but the terrain in the target area
should be taken in to account as
mountainous areas may
necessitate a higher HOF than
normal to ensure proper CBU
operation. If the HOF is set too
low, it may result in the BLU-108/B submunitions not having sufficient time to function and
therefore they will impact the ground without deploying their skeets.

It should be noted that while the skeets do have an anti-material fragmentation function, it is a
secondary capability and the CBU-87 should be used in cases where soft skinned vehicles are the
primary target.

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