tiag
Posts: 91
Joined: 6/21/2018
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Hi Rory,
Thank you for your reply. It is correct to say that cluster bombs (CBU) are in general more precise when dropped from low altitudes. There are also old versions of CBUs which could not reliably be dropped from medium/high altitudes due to fusing problems. But these never precluded to be dropped from medium/high altitudes (with a high impact on the CEP though).
I will address that in (a rather long) reply in the following way: (1) How a CBU mechanics work in RL, (2) Reference to deployment of CBUs from medium/high altitudes for different acft and eras, (3) Suggestion on how to implement it in CMO.
(1) How a CBU mechanics work in RL
This is probably known for you, but may be not for everyone dealing with the DB.
Every CBU units can be set to a burst altitude or height, when the container opens and the submunitions are released. This altitude or heigth can be set on ground or by the pilot in the cockpit, and can be activated mainly in three ways, by barometric altimeter setting, by using radio/radar to detect the ground (height) or by a simple clock.
Just two examples in two different eras to illustrate
- F-16A/B/C allows to set in the cockpit the burst altitude. See F-16 Dash 1 and Dash 34 manuals.
- F-105D had to use CBUs to open at pre-designated altitudes.
In general, a CBU can be dropped from any altitude, while the burst will take place at a much lower altitude. The Burst Altitude can be some hundreds of feet up to 1-2K feet. This affects the spread pattern and bursting effectiveness.
(2) Reference to deployment of CBUs from medium/high altitudes for different acft and eras
I went through my library and selected some sources.
Korean AF F-16 BEM, Volume 5, 1 October 2005, page 8-37:
"Delivery of conventional ballistic bombs and cluster munitions at medium altitude is enhanced and simplified with the addition of the TGP"
Project Checo, Air Tactics Against NVN Air/Ground Defenses, 1967 Page 40
"The CBU-24 was a cluster bomb unit that was dispensed, not by tube delivery which necessitatedlow altitudes (50 to 500 feet), but by a canister which could be dropped in the dive mode from normal dive bomb release altitudes of four to six thousand feet." <- This is the typical early Vietnam era altitude band. In many combat reports, pilots describe using higher altitudes to avoid small caliber weapons but with bad outcomes due to lack of any strike precision. Remember CCIP has not been invented at that time.
Ticking Time Bombs: NATO's Use of Cluster Munitions in Yugoslavia, 1999 (and references herewithin)
"Thus for Operation Allied Force, the historical record and testing experience would tend to indicate that for every single CBU-87 used, there will be an average of some ten unexploded bomblets, and for every RBL755, there will be an average of five unexploded bomblets. Bombing in Operation Allied Force to date has been almost exclusively from medium altitudes (circa 15,000 feet), raising important questions regarding the ability to control the collateral damage effects of the use of cluster bombs, and the number of dispersed unexploded bomblets."
...
"Cluster bombs were used in attacks demanding dispersed yet fairly accurate damage against fixed "soft" targets (for example, radar, surface-to-air missile, and communications installations). Air-delivered cluster bombs were also in high demand for attacks intended to destroy Iraq's widely dispersed tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery guns. They were extensively used in attacks on the Iraqi transportation system as part of the effort to find and destroy mobile Scud missiles. Aircraft patrolling from medium and high altitudes randomly delivered cluster bombs on roads and highways, and around culverts and bridges suspected of being missile traveling routes or hide sites. From February 19 onwards, in addition, B-52 heavy bombers flying at extremely high altitudes dropped cluster bombs on suspected Scud launch areas and on roads leading to these areas, releasing bombs at timed intervals. Towards the end of the war, B-52 bombers, together with many types of tactical fighter aircraft, also delivered cluster bombs on tank and vehicle columns retreating from Kuwait, including along the so-called "highway of death."
..."One of the unexpected problems involved in medium- and high-altitude delivery of cluster bombs in Operation Desert Storm, even with the newer CBU-87s, was that the weapons began to experience what has been termed "excessively high dud rates"
"The Air Force's New Cluster Weapon", Captain Leggete, USAF Fighter Weapons Review, Volume 34, Issue 1, 1986
page 27:
"It may be dropped from 200 to 40,000 feet AGL and at airspeeds between 200 and 700 knot". (its about the CBU-87)
The full article is about CBU employment.
I can also go through soviet/russian or french sources, but I think this portrays well that the cluster mechanics/DB needs an update in CMO.
Before I go through my point #3 "Suggestion on how to implement it in CMO", I would like to know if you have any question so far?
Tiago
< Message edited by tiag -- 4/13/2021 10:41:01 AM >
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