The CBU-72 was a American fuel-air

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

used by the

United States Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

until 1996. It was very effective against armored vehicles, aircraft parked in the open, bunkers, and minefields.

Design

The CBU-72 consisted of three

fuel-air explosive A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...

(FAE) submunitions. Each submunition weighed about and dispensed a cloud approximately in diameter and high, composed of its of

ethylene oxide Ethylene oxide is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is a cyclic ether and the simplest epoxide: a three-membered Ring (chemistry), ring consisting of one oxygen atom and two carbon atoms. Ethylene oxide is a colorless a ...

aerosol fuel across the target area, with air-burst fusing set for . An embedded detonator ignited the cloud as it descended to the ground to produce a massive explosion. The high-pressure of the rapidly expanding wave front flattened all objects within close proximity of the center of the fuel cloud, as well as causing debilitating damage well beyond it. Like other FAE using ethylene oxide, in the event of non-ignition, it functions as a

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

, due to the highly toxic nature of this gas.

History of use

First-generation

CBU-55 The CBU-55 was a cluster bomb fuel–air explosive that was developed during the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force, and was used only infrequently in that conflict. Unlike most incendiaries, which contained napalm or phosphorus, the CBU-5 ...

and CBU-72 fuel-air weapons were used in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. A second generation of FAE weapons were based on those, and were used by the United States in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

.CBU-72 / BLU-73/B Fuel/Air Explosive (FAE) - Dumb Bombs
/ref> A total of 254 CBU-72s were dropped by the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, mostly from

A-6E The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was designed in response to a 1957 r ...

s. They were targeted against mine fields and personnel in trenches, but were more useful as a

psychological weapon Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and M ...

. After Desert Storm, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

removed their remaining FAE weapons from service, and by 1996, they had been transferred for demilitarization. By the middle of 2001, only a few hundred remained in existence, awaiting demilitarization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbu-72 Cluster munition Thermobaric weapons Explosive weapons Cold War aerial bombs of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1980s

Design

History of use

See also

References