Regardless of its type or purpose, dropped ordnance is dispensed or dropped from an aircraft. Like bombs, they are carried by aircraft. Their payload, however, is smaller ordnance called submunitions. Dispensers come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the payload inside.
Dropped dispensers fall away from the aircraft and are stabilized in flight by fin assemblies.
Dropped dispensers may be in one piece or in multiple pieces. All dropped dispensers use either mechanical time or proximity fuzing. These fuzes allow the payload to be dispersed at a predetermined height above the target. Multiple-piece dispensers open up and disperse their payload when the fuze functions. Single-piece dispensers eject their payload out of ports or holes in the body when the fuze functions.