CBU - 97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon The CBU - 97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon is a United States Air Force - class non - guided ( freefall ) Cluster Bomb Unit ( CBU ) . It was developed and produced by Textron Defense Systems . The CBU - 97 in conjunction with the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser guidance tail kit , which converts it to a precision - guided weapon , is designated CBU - 105 . Overview . The CBU - 97 consists of an SUU - 66 / B tactical munition dispenser that contains 10 BLU - 108 submunitions . Each submunition contains four hockey - puck - shaped sensor - fused projectiles called Skeets . These detect target vehicles , such as tank s , armored personnel carriers , trucks and other support vehicles , and fire a kinetic energy penetrator downwards at them . Operation . The 40 Skeets scan an area of using infrared and laser sensor s , seeking targets by pattern - matching . When a Skeet finds a target it fires an explosively - formed penetrator to destroy it . If a Skeet fails to find a target , it self - destructs above the ground ; if this fails , a back - up timer disables the Skeet . These features are intended to avoid later civilian casualties from unexploded munitions , and result in an unexploded - ordnance rate of less than 1 % . As the CBU - 97 approaches its designated aim - point , the dispenser skin is severed into three panels by an explosive cutting charge . The slipstream peels away these panels , exposing the 10 BLU - 108 submunitions . An airbag ejects the forward five submunitions , then five in the aft bay . Following a preset timeline , the submunitions deploy parachute s so that they are spaced about apart . Then each submunition releases its chute , fires a rocket motor that stops its descent and spins it on its longitudinal axis , and releases Skeets 90 degrees apart , in pairs . Each spinning Skeet makes a coning motion that allows it to scan a circular area on the ground . The laser sensor detects changes in apparent terrain height such as the contour of a vehicle . At the same time , infrared sensors detect heat signatures , such as those emitted by the engine of a vehicle . When the combination of height contours and heat signatures indicative of a target are detected , the Skeet detonates , firing an explosively formed penetrator ( EFP ) , a kinetic energy penetrator , down into the target at high speed , sufficient to penetrate armor plating and destroy what is protected by it . Even well - armored vehicles such as main battle tank s , while having massive armor protection on the front and sides , are only lightly armored above , and relatively easily penetrated . SFW disables targets using the kinetic energy of the penetrator ; it does not explode . Each bomb can spread penetrators over an area of or more . According to an ABC News consultant , an attack by this bomb would basically stop an armored convoy moving down a road . While the bomb was designed during the cold war for fighter - bomber s flying at low altitude below radar cover to attack Soviet tanks , a single B - 52 high altitude heavy bomber can destroy an entire armored division with these bombs , where in the past dozens of aircraft would have had to drop hundreds of bombs for the same effect . The CBU - 97 , or CBU - 105 version , is deployed by tactical aircraft from altitudes of Above Ground Level ( AGL ) at speeds of . The weapon was first deployed , but not used , during Operation Allied Force when NATO entered the Kosovo War . Sensor - fused weapons were first fired in combat during the 2003 invasion of Iraq . In 2010 the US government announced the sale to India of 512 CBU - 105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons . The expected platform is the SEPECAT Jaguar . Saudi Arabia has also requested the CBU - 105 . Operators . In addition to the United States , the CBU - 105 has been ordered by India , Oman , Saudi Arabia , South Korea , Turkey , and the United Arab Emirates .