Manufacturer catalog

Aerojet Ordnance

Aerojet Ordnance was the U.S. munitions arm of Aerojet General/GenCorp associated with development and early production of the CBU-87/B Combined Effects Munition and its BLU-97/B submunition. Public program reporting places the organization in Tustin, California, with production and assembly work at Southern California facilities and final CEM assembly at the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant.

2 weapons

Aerojet Ordnance’s documented weapons work is concentrated in late Cold War U.S. air-delivered cluster munitions. Forecast International identifies Aerojet Ordnance Company as the BLU-97/B manufacturer and prime contractor for the complete CBU-87/B weapon until 1994, when Primex Technologies purchased the ordnance business. The same report describes the CBU-87/B as a major Air Force procurement program built around the SUU-65/B Tactical Munitions Dispenser and 202 BLU-97/B combined-effects bomblets.

Contemporary reporting from the Los Angeles Times described Aerojet Ordnance as a Tustin munitions maker and GenCorp subsidiary, with Downey and Chino plants producing and assembling CEM parts under a 1985 Air Force contract. The ordnance operation’s later ownership trail runs through Primex Technologies and General Dynamics, while the separate Aerojet corporate lineage continued through GenCorp, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and L3Harris.

Air-delivered cluster munitionsCombined-effects submunitionsTactical munitions dispenser programsMedium-caliber ammunition

Notable Systems

CBU-87 cluster munition, Air-delivered cluster munition, Munitions

CBU-87 cluster munition

Air-delivered cluster munition

Forecast International identifies Aerojet Ordnance as the prime contractor for the complete CBU-87/B weapon until 1994; the 1985 Air Force contract covered 9,275 Combined Effects Munition systems.

Sources: Forecast International CBU-87/B, Los Angeles Times contract report
BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomblet, Cluster submunition, Munitions

BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomblet

Cluster submunition

The BLU-97/B submunition was the CBU-87/B payload; Forecast International says Aerojet Ordnance manufactured the BLU-97/B until the ordnance business was purchased by Primex Technologies.

Sources: Forecast International CBU-87/B

Manufacturer History

  1. BLU-97/B designation assigned

    Forecast International reports that the new Combined Effects Munition submunition received the BLU-97/B military designation in 1981 before integration with the SUU-65/B dispenser.

    Sources: Forecast International CBU-87/B

  2. First CBU-87/B service delivery

    The CBU-87/B, carrying 202 BLU-97/B bomblets in the SUU-65/B Tactical Munitions Dispenser, made its first service delivery in December 1983.

    Sources: Forecast International CBU-87/B

  3. Large Air Force CEM contract reported

    The Los Angeles Times reported that Aerojet Ordnance won a $236.9 million one-year Air Force contract to produce 9,275 Combined Effects Munition cluster bombs, with parts work at Downey and Chino and final assembly at Kansas Army Ammunition Plant.

    Sources: Los Angeles Times contract report

  4. Ordnance business sold to Primex

    Forecast International states that Primex Technologies purchased Aerojet Ordnance in early 1994; it later notes Primex was purchased by General Dynamics in 2000.

    Sources: Forecast International CBU-87/B

Successors
Primex TechnologiesGeneral Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems
Website links
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical SystemsAerojet Rocketdyne historyForecast International CBU-87/B archived report

Aerojet Ordnance is treated as a historical U.S. ordnance operation. Public sources identify the ordnance business as purchased by Primex Technologies in 1994 and then by General Dynamics, while the broader Aerojet corporate lineage continued separately through GenCorp, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and L3Harris.

Manufacturer Sources

  • Forecast International CBU-87/BPublisher: Forecast International | Note: Supports Aerojet Ordnance's role as BLU-97/B manufacturer and CBU-87/B prime contractor until 1994, the Primex and General Dynamics ownership sequence, production status, and CBU-87/B/BLU-97/B technical context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Los Angeles Times contract reportPublisher: Los Angeles Times | Note: Supports Aerojet Ordnance's Tustin munitions-maker description, GenCorp subsidiary context, CEM contract size, Downey and Chino production role, and Kansas Army Ammunition Plant final assembly. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical SystemsPublisher: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems | Note: Supports current successor-business context for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems as a General Dynamics aerospace and defense company active in munitions, energetics, missile subsystems, and related defense products. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Aerojet Rocketdyne historyPublisher: L3Harris Technologies | Note: Supports Aerojet/GenCorp corporate lineage, including the 1984 GenCorp holding-company rename, later Aerojet Rocketdyne formation, and L3Harris successor context for the non-ordnance Aerojet corporate line. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • CBU-87 cluster bomb imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and public-domain U.S. Air Force licensing for the CBU-87 image used on the manufacturer page. | Accessed: 2026-07-11

Produced weapons

Category

Munitions

Standalone missiles, bombs, rockets, torpedoes, and guided or unguided explosive payloads.

2/2
CBU-87 cluster munition, Air-delivered cluster munition, Munitions1990 Gulf War, 1999 Kosovo War / Operation Allied Force +2 moreCBU-87 cluster munitionAir-delivered cluster munitionBuilt in: United StatesThe CBU-87 cluster munition is a U.S. air-delivered Combined Effects Munition built around the SUU-65/B Tactical Munitions Dispenser and 202 BLU-97/B bomblets. It saw documented U.S. or NATO use in the 1990 Gulf War, Operation Allied Force, Afghanistan, and the 2003 Iraq War, while the related CBU-103/B added a Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser tail kit to the same CEM body.
BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomblet, Cluster submunition, MunitionsBLU-97/B Combined Effects BombletCluster submunitionBuilt in: United StatesThe BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomblet is a small U.S. aerial submunition built around anti-armor, fragmentation, and incendiary effects in one package. It is best documented as the payload inside CBU-87 and CBU-103 cluster munitions, the AGM-154A JSOW, and the retired TLAM-D Tomahawk dispenser variant; this support record keeps conflict use on directly sourced parent-munition pages rather than inferring independent BLU-97/B use.