Direct proof of use
The Mk 118 Rockeye submunition appeared in the 2003 Iraq War through U.S. use of CBU-99 Rockeye cluster bombs. Human Rights Watch reported that the United States used 182 Vietnam-era CBU-99 Rockeyes in the Iraq air war and identified each CBU-99 as carrying 247 Mk 118 submunitions.
The U.S. air component's Operation Iraqi Freedom statistics separately listed 182 CBU-99 weapons expended during the 19 March to 18 April 2003 reporting period, corroborating the munition count in the air campaign.
Sources: Off Target Iraq Air War Cluster Bombs, Operation Iraqi Freedom By The Numbers
Timeline
The sourced public count covers the major air-combat phase from 19 March to 18 April 2003. Human Rights Watch's later Iraq report used that campaign data and its own field investigation to place the CBU-99 Rockeye among the older air-delivered cluster bombs used by coalition forces.
The direct-use record does not identify individual CBU-99 strike locations for the Mk 118. Human Rights Watch described air-dropped cluster-bomb use as more limited than ground-launched cluster-munition use, while noting that coalition air strikes generally used cluster bombs for area effect and anti-armor roles.
Sources: Operation Iraqi Freedom By The Numbers, Off Target Iraq Air War Cluster Bombs
Narrative
In Iraq, the Mk 118 was not used as a stand-alone weapon. It was the bomblet inside the CBU-99 Rockeye dispenser, part of the Rockeye family of air-dropped cluster bombs. Cluster-munition technical guidance describes the Mk 118 as a U.S. anti-armor submunition with a shaped charge and states that a Rockeye-type dispenser carries 247 submunitions.
Human Rights Watch reported that coalition air forces used cluster bombs largely for area effect and anti-armor purposes, including against armored vehicles, artillery, missiles, and other military equipment. The documented CBU-99 expenditure therefore places the Mk 118 in U.S. air-delivered cluster-munition use during the opening 2003 Iraq campaign.
Available public sources support the U.S. user, the CBU-99 carrier munition, the 182-weapon count, and the 247-Mk-118 payload per bomb. They do not publicly tie Mk 118 remnants to a named Iraqi city or single strike in the way some BLU-97 and ground-launched submunition evidence was later documented.
Sources: Off Target Iraq Air War Cluster Bombs, A Guide to Cluster Munitions, Mk 118 Rockeye Submunition
