The CBU-24 cluster bomb consists of a SUU-30 dispenser unit containing a payload of 665 tennis ball-sized BLU-26 or BLU-36 fragmentation submunitions, also known as bomblets. Once dropped from the delivery aircraft, the CBU-24 casing breaks open in-flight and releases the individual submunitions, scattering them over a large area. The time-delay function of the submunitions is designed to continue to deny the area to the enemy for some time after the initial attack and hamper clean up and casualty recovery operations.