IAF Cleared For CBU-105 Sensor-Fused Weapon

The Indian Air Force has been cleared to receive 512 American-built CBU-105 sensor-fuzed munitions worth $257,737,338 more than two years after the Indian government first expressed it interest in procuring the system in September 2008. The IAF will also receive 44 training units. I’d reported on the system being in-principle cleared in March this year, with the final clearance coming in November. Total Buck Rogers weapon.

Animation video of the CBU in action.
Official Textron brochure here [PDF].

21 thoughts on “IAF Cleared For CBU-105 Sensor-Fused Weapon”

  1. this is good news but now a days modern air forces are going for stand off precision missiles rather than bombs.

    india dosen't actually needs these bombs

    the american plan behind this is to assist the Indian Air Force to develop and enhance standardization and operational ability with the United States

    that's the plan

    that's why these expensive munitions are being sold to india

  2. Do you even know what the Sensor Fuzed Weapon can do? It's not a dumb cluster munition. This can stop an armoured formation in its track, period.

  3. Yes this method is somewhat outdated…though the weapon is state-of-the-art, the launch platform has to get very close to deliver it. Russia uses a similar but (smaller) warheads for its KH-series missiles which can be launched from a stand-off distance.

  4. Hello Dude (indian defence form),
    Remember kargil? Peaks hard to target.

    Now , imagine PLA entrenching at tops of himalayans ranges indo tibet border, etc

    Dont cry at every purchase. Yes. US wants to show that they are willing to give us the latest technology weapons. Thats what they are showing. Its a win-win situation. so stop cribbing and crying.

  5. good purchase. very good weapon – essentially a cluster bomb with smart bomblets. we should get more…these are worth the price.

    -vishal

  6. The CBU 97 can be dropped upto 6100 metres.It also has Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser guidance tail kit option CBU-105 to give it a level of 'smartness'.

    The term 'stand-off' sounds nice in theory.But war is neither nice nor acted out on theories or is risk free. Stand-off is more suitable for strategic and relatively static targets/assets.Fast moving,fluid tactical situations require 'eyeballs on target' and a 'guy out there'. Real war,especially in the south Asian context are up close and dirty.Even the US will not have such sensor/surveillance capability to ensure that every situation can be tackled in a stand -off manner.

  7. These are not your average dumb cluster bombs.

    They disintegrate and drop 40 sub munitions on the battlefield.

    Each of these 40 sub munitions scans the ground below and identifies an armored vehicle and then drops for a kill. A shaped charge warhead increases the effectiveness against tanks.

    They are very effective against large armored formations. The US used them in Iraq very effectively.

    To get a gist of it, watch this video on youtube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-216-Y6Cac

  8. Now we should buy the Paveway and JDAM guided bombs instead of the outdated Russian KAB-500s. These are the most advanced in the world, and even European countries like France and UK use them. BTW the IAF's Mirage-2000 uses old model Paveway laser-guided bombs.

  9. Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the latest 'stark' weapons(IRON MAN MOVIE). This is as good as it can get. Pak cannot think of sending its T-80 UD with depleted uranium shells over LoC. This bomb will give nightmares if any such formation comes over this side.

    US has really showed now that 'tech denial' is a thing of past. I think we should not break their trust and try to reverse engineer these weapons by 'stealing' the tech> DRDO hope you are listening,.

    Also FMS route is good as it keeps the corruption/middlemen away.

  10. Great buy which is long overdue. The size of the order is small given the potential targets (possible Chinese threat). I hope there's a repeat order around the corner. Kargil would've been a lot different if the IAF had sensor-fuzed munitions like this.

  11. in kargil war indan army does not have much UAVS to find the enemy capture bunkers so they has send more soldier lead to more causualty
    as enemies were in good firing position over the mountains backup from paki army.

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