1990 Gulf War

CBU-87 cluster munition in the 1990 Gulf War

U.S. air forces used the CBU-87 cluster munition during Operation Desert Storm; GAO and Human Rights Watch both record 10,035 CBU-87s expended in the 1991 air campaign.

Weapon profileCBU-87 cluster munition
SideCoalition forcesRoleInterdictionAnti-ArmorArea Denial
CBU-87 cluster munition, Air-delivered cluster munition, Munitions - 1990 Gulf War
Image source: Cbu-87 cluster bomb.jpg

Evidence Map

ClaimSources
U.S. air forces used CBU-87 cluster munitions during Operation Desert Storm in the 1990 Gulf War.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing

The reported U.S. Air Force campaign total was 10,035 CBU-87 munitions.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing, HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

A Human Rights Watch table separately records 387 Royal Air Force CBU-87s within coalition air-delivered cluster-bomb use.

Sources: HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

Each CBU-87 carried 202 BLU-97/B bomblets.

Sources: HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing, HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

The reviewed public sources establish campaign-level expenditure, not incident-level CBU-87 strike locations.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing

Timeline

CBU-87 cluster munition In 1990 Gulf War

  1. Operation Desert Storm air campaign begins

    GAO describes Operation Desert Storm as a 43-day air campaign from January 17 to February 28, 1991; its munitions appendix later lists CBU-87 expenditure for the campaign.

    Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign

  2. Air campaign reporting window closes

    GAO's Desert Storm air-campaign evaluation records 10,035 CBU-87 munitions expended under unguided cluster weapons.

    Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign

  3. HRW publishes Gulf War cluster-bomb table

    Human Rights Watch published a table of air-delivered cluster-bomb use in the Gulf War, listing 10,035 U.S. Air Force CBU-87s and 387 Royal Air Force CBU-87s.

    Sources: HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

  4. HRW briefing repeats the CBU-87 total

    Human Rights Watch reported that the United States used 10,035 CBU-87s, carrying more than two million submunitions, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

    Sources: HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing

Documented Use

Direct proof of use

The CBU-87 cluster munition was used by U.S. air forces during Operation Desert Storm in the 1990 Gulf War. GAO's Operation Desert Storm air-campaign evaluation lists CBU-87 under unguided cluster munitions and records 10,035 weapons expended.

Human Rights Watch independently reported the same 10,035-CBU-87 total for the 1991 Persian Gulf War, describing the CBU-87 as an air-dropped bomb with 202 BLU-97 submunitions. A Human Rights Watch Gulf War cluster-bomb table also lists CBU-87 use by the U.S. Air Force and records a separate Royal Air Force CBU-87 figure within coalition use.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing, HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

Timeline

The documented CBU-87 use belongs to Operation Desert Storm's air campaign, which GAO describes as running from January 17 to February 28, 1991. GAO's munitions appendix later placed the CBU-87 in the unguided-cluster category and listed 10,035 expended weapons.

Human Rights Watch's 1999 cluster-munitions reporting reproduced a Gulf War air-delivered cluster-bomb table that attributed 10,035 CBU-87s to the U.S. Air Force and 387 CBU-87s to the Royal Air Force. HRW's 2003 briefing again used the 10,035 U.S. figure while discussing Persian Gulf War cluster-munition contamination in Iraq and Kuwait.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing

Narrative

In Gulf War public accounting, the CBU-87 appears as a U.S. Air Force unguided cluster munition used at large scale during the air campaign that preceded and supported the coalition ground offensive. The sources establish campaign-level expenditure, not named strike incidents or individual aircraft sorties for each CBU-87 release.

The munition's role was area-effect air attack against military targets rather than precision point strike. HRW's technical appendix describes the CBU-87 as a combined-effects munition with antiarmor, antipersonnel, and incendiary effects, and states that each weapon carried 202 BLU-97/B bomblets.

Postwar reporting treated CBU-87 use as part of the Gulf War's wider cluster-munition legacy. HRW said the United States and allied coalition used about 61,000 air-dropped cluster munitions in Iraq and Kuwait between January 17 and February 28, 1991, releasing about twenty million submunitions, and that roughly fifteen percent of those air-dropped cluster munitions were CBU-87s.

Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, HRW Iraq Cluster Munition Hazard Briefing, HRW Gulf War Cluster Bomb Table

Related Weapons by Role

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CBU-104 Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser, Wind-corrected munition dispenser, MunitionsMunitionsCBU-104 Wind-Corrected Munitions DispenserWind-corrected munition dispenserThe CBU-104 Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser is the WCMD-equipped version of the U.S. CBU-89 Gator mine dispenser. It keeps the 72 BLU-91 anti-armor and 22 BLU-92 anti-personnel mine payload while adding an inertial tail kit that corrects release errors and winds aloft, giving the Gator family a more accurate medium- or high-altitude delivery option. Public sources document the CBU-104 as a certified F-16/BRU-57 and B-1B weapon, while available conflict-use sources identify other WCMD variants rather than direct CBU-104 combat employment.
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Sources