Israeli Fighter Jets Are Attacking Iran With Cluster Bombs

Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Air Force)

The Israeli Air Force on March 29 released a photo of F-16I Sufa fighter jets taking part in strikes on Iran, armed with what appears to be cluster bombs.

“In parallel, the Air Force struck sites used for storing and launching ballistic missiles, which pose a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel, as well as several defense systems of the terror regime. More than 150 fighter jets struck, over the past day, weapons production sites throughout Tehran,” the Israeli Air Force wrote in a Hebrew language post on X accompanying the picture. “The strikes on the regime’s military industries in Tehran continue at this hour as well. The Air Force continues to deepen the strikes on the regime’s military industries in order to deny the production capabilities it has built up over [the] years.”

The photo, taken at nighttime, was too blurry to clearly identify the suspect cluster bomb. However, its overall design appears consistent with American-made systems such as the CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition, the CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon, as well as the GBU-89/B and CBU-78/B — both of which are linked to the GATOR mine system.

Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Air Force)

Israel is known to be in possession of both the GBU-89/B and CBU-78/B, which weigh around 450 kg and 240 kg, respectively.

Recently, BLU-91/B anti-tank mines linked to the GATOR were scattered by similar bombs near Iranian ballistic missile bases in what appears to be an attempt to hunt launchers. Nevertheless, the U.S. is the only known operator of this mine system.

Both bombs can also scatter the GATOR’s BLU-92/B anti-personnel mine. The GBU-89/B can deliver 72 anti-tank and 22 anti-personnel mines, while the CBU-78/B carries 45 anti-tank and 15 anti-personnel mines.

Click to see full-size image.

In use, these bombs are dropped from aircraft flying at speeds between 370 and 1,300 kilometers per hour, and at altitudes of between 100 and 1,200 meters.

A fuse controls the opening of the dispenser at one of 10 predetermined altitudes between 90 meters and 900 meters using a doppler ranging radar or alternatively a 1.2 second timer.

Mine arming begins when the dispenser opens with the activation of the mines’ vanadium pentoxide batteries. Once the mines reach the ground they become armed between 1.2 and 10 seconds. The mines self-destruct after a preset time which can be set to 4 hours, 15 hours or 15 days. Any that do not will become disabled after 40 days when the batteries discharge fully.

The GBU-89/B can be also equipped with the can be also equipped with the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) guidance tail kit, which includes a GPS-aided inertial navigation system. It became a precision-guided munition designated as CBU-104, with a range up to 20 kilometers.

Click to see full-size image. (Tasnim News Agency)

While it is possible that Israel got the GATOR system from the U.S. in secret very recently, there is no evidence confirming this yet.

There is also no evidence that Israel is currently in possession of the CBU-97, which leaves the CBU-87 as the most likely case.

The CBU-87 is designed to be dropped from an aircraft at any altitude and any air speed. Each CBU-87 consists of an SUU-65B canister, a fuse with 12 time delay options and 202 submunitions designated BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomb. It can be also equipped with the WCMD kit, and in this case it is called the CBU-103.

Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Army)

Of course, it is also possible that Israel is using older American-made cluster bombs, like the CBU-100 Rockeye II, and the CBU-58/B.

Israel also developed a cluster bomb called the Runway Attack Munition, which is filled with submunitions specifically designed to crater runways.

In any case, the use of cluster bombs by Israel and the U.S. against Iran is far from surprising. However, it is hard to assess how effective these bombs are, especially when it comes to the GATOR, which has been already blamed for the death of civilians.