U.S. aircraft used Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bombs during Operation Desert Storm; each Rockeye carried Mk 118 submunitions, and Kuwait clearance records later documented M118/Rockeye duds.
| Claim | Sources |
|---|---|
| U.S. aircraft expended 27,987 Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bombs from 17 January to 28 February 1991. | |
| Rockeye CBU-99/CBU-100 bombs carried 247 Mk 118 submunitions. | Sources: Cluster Munitions a Foreseeable Hazard in Iraq, A Guide to Cluster Munitions |
| Kuwait clearance records documented M118/Rockeye dud submunitions after the 1991 Gulf War. | |
| The Mk 118 was a U.S. aerially dispersed HEAT Rockeye submunition. | Sources: Mk 118 Rockeye Submunition, A Guide to Cluster Munitions |
Timeline
A U.S. Marine Corps history lists 27,987 Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bombs expended by U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft during the main Desert Storm combat period.
Human Rights Watch reported that Kuwait clearance agencies encountered large numbers of dud Rockeye submunitions after the 1991 Gulf War, including 95,799 M118 Rockeye submunitions cleared by one U.S. company in its sector.
Human Rights Watch cited Kuwait Ministry of Defense monthly reports showing 451 Rockeye submunitions detected and destroyed in Kuwait during 2002.
The Mk 118 Rockeye submunition appeared in the 1990 Gulf War through U.S. use of Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bombs during Operation Desert Storm. A U.S. Marine Corps history lists 27,987 Mk-20 Rockeyes expended from 17 January to 28 February 1991, split among U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft.
Human Rights Watch separately identifies Rockeye CBU-99/CBU-100 bombs as carrying 247 Mk 118 submunitions and describes their extensive use in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The same report records M118/Rockeye dud submunitions cleared in Kuwait after the war, including 95,799 cleared by one U.S. company in its sector and 451 detected and destroyed in Kuwait in 2002.
Sources: U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf 1990-1991, Cluster Munitions a Foreseeable Hazard in Iraq
The direct expenditure record covers the Desert Storm air and ground-campaign period from 17 January to 28 February 1991. In that interval, the Marine Corps table lists 5,345 Mk-20 Rockeyes expended by Air Force aircraft, 6,814 by Navy aircraft, and 15,828 by Marine Corps aircraft.
Postwar clearance evidence extended the record beyond combat use. Human Rights Watch cited Kuwait clearance data showing that Rockeye-family duds remained a recurring explosive-remnants problem more than a decade after the war, with Mk-118/Rockeye among the cluster-submunition types recovered in Kuwait.
Sources: U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf 1990-1991, Cluster Munitions a Foreseeable Hazard in Iraq
The Mk 118 was not delivered as an independent weapon. It was the anti-armor bomblet inside Rockeye-family air-dropped cluster bombs, with the parent dispenser opening in flight and scattering 247 submunitions across an area target.
In the Gulf War record, the supported user is the United States. The Marine Corps expenditure table documents U.S. air-delivered Mk-20 Rockeye use across Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aviation, while Human Rights Watch connects the Rockeye CBU-99/CBU-100 family to Mk 118 payloads and to Kuwait postwar clearance of M118/Rockeye duds.
The public sources support the carrier munition, U.S. user, campaign-period expenditure total, Mk 118 payload count, and Kuwait dud-clearance evidence. They do not identify a single named Mk 118 strike site, individual aircraft sortie, or specific Iraqi target destroyed by a Mk 118 submunition.
Sources: U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf 1990-1991, Cluster Munitions a Foreseeable Hazard in Iraq, A Guide to Cluster Munitions, Mk 118 Rockeye Submunition
