Greater use of cluster bombs for close air support in WW2 ?

Reviewing the recent discussions about "tank busting" air craft in ww 2, I'm wondering why the use of cluster bombs for close air support in ww 2 wasn't more common ? Rather than trying to shoe horn increasingly large, heavy and powerful cannon into close support aircraft, what would have had to have occurred to see an earlier wide spread use of cluster bombs with submunitions armed with shaped charge warheads ?

My understanding is that the air borne tank busting cannon typically needed tungsten cored ammunition to be effective. Using cluster bombs as an alternative would have allowed that tungsten to be diverted to other uses. The use of cluster bombs would also reduce the need for specialized "tank busting" aircraft.

Just thougt I would put this into the mix of potential ww 2 tank busting alternatives. (I have read accounts of some useage of these munitions in ww 2.)
 

Deleted member 1487

I guess you could have the Germans hit on using 50mm mortar rounds as cluster bombs sooner, so that rather than scrapping so many captured French ones they just use them in cluster canisters; same with their own when they cancel their 50mm mortar. I don't think the Wallies used cluster bombs for AP work at all in Europe, so perhaps them figure it out and field them. I know they copied the German SD-2 butterfly bomb and used them in the Pacific from May 1944 on.

Part of the issue is that they often leave defective bomblets everywhere, which can be a serious problem if you plan on having troops move through the area any time soon. CAS aircraft generally are operating too close to friendly troops to be able to use them. IIRC lessons from Vietnam was that CAS was best sticking to 20mm cannons and smaller munitions like 100lbs bombs for precise bomb laying.
 
I guess you could have the Germans hit on using 50mm mortar rounds as cluster bombs sooner, so that rather than scrapping so many captured French ones they just use them in cluster canisters; same with their own when they cancel their 50mm mortar. I don't think the Wallies used cluster bombs for AP work at all in Europe, so perhaps them figure it out and field them. I know they copied the German SD-2 butterfly bomb and used them in the Pacific from May 1944 on.

Part of the issue is that they often leave defective bomblets everywhere, which can be a serious problem if you plan on having troops move through the area any time soon. CAS aircraft generally are operating too close to friendly troops to be able to use them. IIRC lessons from Vietnam was that CAS was best sticking to 20mm cannons and smaller munitions like 100lbs bombs for precise bomb laying.

Thanks the dud issue makes sense especialy for the western allies post D day. (As the UK would have had experience dealing with un exploeded sub munitions that were dropped on the UK.)
 
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