Sensor Fuzed Weapon

A much improved version of the standard cluster bomb, the sensor fuzed weapon (formally the CBU-97) uses "smart" bomblets to spread destruction across battlefields with precise strikes on multiple enemy targets. The CBU-97 is actually a bomb-like canister (above, inset) containing 10 cylindrical canisters (called "submunitions") that each hold four "smart" hockey puck-shaped "skeet" bomblets, giving a total of 40 bomblets per weapon.

As shown in the diagram above, just after the main canister is released, its skin opens ("A" on the diagram), deploying the 10 submunitions each with its own parachute. At a preset altitude, the parachutes are jettisoned (B) and rockets in the submunition canisters (C) lift them up and then spin to disperse the skeet bomblets (D). Infrared sensors in the bomblets then search for targets that are taken out with small powerful warheads (E).