U.S. B-52 bombers dropped six new precision-guided 1,000-pound (454 kg) "cluster" bombs on an Iraqi tank column defending Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. The U.S. Central Command's air component command said the CBU-105 bombs, which each dispense a number of armor-destroying bomblets, were dropped on Tuesday for the first time ever "to stop an Iraqi tank column from continuing its route" toward American troops fighting the Iraqi Republican Guards.
The CBU-105 is the new version that corrects for wind drift. It's full of these little jewels:
The Sensor Fuzed Weapon [SFW] is an unpowered, top attack, wide area, cluster munition, designed to achieve multiple kills per aircraft pass against enemy armor and support vehicles. After release, the TMD opens and dispenses the ten submunitions which are parachute stabilized. Each of the 10 BLU-108/B submunitions contains four armor-penetrating projectiles with infrared sensors to detect armored targets. At a preset 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. 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 after a period of time, the projectiles automatically after a preset time interval, causing damage to material and personnel.
The left, of course, is already screaming about these horrible weapons. |