Is CM Artillery too destructive?

[SGTGunn]

It could be a lot worse if some of the newer US "smart" sub munition delivery systems were modeled in the game.

The aircraft delivered 1000lb CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapon contains 10 BLU-108/B sub-munitions - each which in turn has 4 "skeet" projectiles. The CBU-97 dispenser opens and ejects the 5 forward, then 5 rear BLU-108/B sub-munitions in a pattern designed to cover a large overlapping area. Each BLU-108/B sub-munition uses a radar altimeter to determine the correct deployment altitude. Once reached it fires a rocket motor which causes the sub-munition to ascend and spin, releasing the 4 "skeets" in a pattern over the ground. Each skeet scans the ground with an IR sensor - if it detects a AFV, launcher, artillery piece, etc. it explodes firing a 1lb copper EFP down into the target. 1 CBU-97 has 40 skeets.

An A-10 can carry 10 CBU-97. An F-16 can carry 4. An F-15E can carry 12. A B-2 can carry 30!

So picture a massed armor formation - say a battalion of Iranian Zulfiqar MBT moving across the desert at night. A B-2 can glide on over, and drop it's 30 CBU-97s at 20,000 feet, cruising at 600 knots, covering the area with 1200 smart skeet projectiles onto 40 something tanks. Not a good day to be an Iranian tanker.

There is also the artillery (155mm, MLRS and ATACMS)deployed SADARM sub-munition which while no generating the volume of projectiles a CBU-97 can, is far more lethal than the standard "dumb" artillery delivered sub munitions.

Adrian