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 vehi ...
used by the
United States Military
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
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, or a vacuum bomb, is a type of explosive munition that works by dispersing an aerosol cloud of gas, liquid or powdered explosive. The fuel is usually a single compound, rather than a mixture o ...
(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 ...
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 ...
, due to the highly toxic nature of this gas.
History of use
First-generation
CBU-55 and CBU-72 fuel-air weapons were used in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. A second generation of FAE weapons were based on those, and were used by the United States in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
, mostly from A-6Es. They were targeted against mine fields and personnel in foxholes, but were more useful as a psychological weapon.
After Desert Storm, the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
and the Marines
Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...
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.
See also
* List of cluster bombs
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbu-72
Cluster munitions
Thermobaric weapons
Explosive weapons
Cold War aerial bombs of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1980s