Friday, October 10, 2008

CBU-89 Gator

Also Known As
CBU-78/B Gator
CBU-89/B Gator

Origin
United States of America

Applications
WCMD

Description: The CBU-89 Gator is a 1,000-pound class cluster bomb containing anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. The anti-tank mine is triggered by a magnetic sensor and the anti-personnel mine are triggered by trip wires. The purpose of this weapon when released from tactical aircraft is to create rapidly minefields to deny access to a given area to moving ground forces or to immobilize targets.

The Gator mine dispensing system consists of SUU-66/B tactical munitions dispenser, 72 BLU-91/B anti-tank mines and 22 BLU-92/B anti-personnel mines. Fitted with the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kit it can be released from higher altitudes for enhanced aircraft survivability. The minefield area will depend on the release altitude of the Gator, higher altitude means the mines will be dispersed throughout a larger area and vice versa.

The CBU-78/B Gator is a 500-pound variant used by the US Navy that replaced the SUU-66/B by the low-cost Mk7 Rockeye tactical dispenser which has lower capacity. The Rockeye can carry 45 anti-tank mines and 15 anti-personnel mines. The CBU-78 mines are the same used on the CBU-89 cluster bomb.

The Gator dispenser system can be used by virtually any tactical aircraft operated by the United States and allied countries. During operation Desert Storm, the US Air Force dropped more than 1,000 Gators.

Specifications
Dimensions: Diameter 400 mm, Length 2.3 m

Weights: Max Weight 322 kg (710 lb)

Operators

United States of America

Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) kN (KiloNewton) Ton (t)
Meters per Second (mps) Kilometers per Hour (kph) Knot (kt) Miles per Hour (mph)
Liter (l) Galon (gl)
Year (yr) Minutes (min) Second (sec)
Shaft-Horse-Power (shp)

Last Updated: Friday, October 10, 2008

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