Saturday, May 8, 1999 Published at 15:10 GMT 16:10 UK
High-tech war in Kosovo
How a cluster bomb works (animating graphic)
By Paul Rogers
When graphite bombs detonate, they produce clouds of carbon fibres that cover a substantial area and short-circuit power systems.
Several other types are already being deployed by Nato forces, and Serbia has similar weapons.
Many of these weapons may leave behind unexploded components that can be as dangerous as anti-personnel land mines.
The main area-impact weapon used by the RAF's Harriers is the BL755 cluster bomb produced by Hunting.
Many thousands of unexploded bomblets were left behind after the Gulf War in 1991, and there were frequent casualties in Iraq and Kuwait for months afterwards.
Depleted uranium munitions
These planes fire another type of weapon - depleted uranium armour-piercing shells.
These are not area-impact weapons as such, but there are reports that the residual matter left behind can cause long-term health problems among people in areas where they have been used.
Multiple-launch rocket system
The Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is being deployed in Albania, close to the Kosovo border.
The US air force also has fuel-air explosive bombs that are more devastating than conventional bombs.
Serbian arms manufacturers
Area impact munitions are not restricted to Nato, although Serbian forces have not yet used them against Nato targets.
But Serbian arms manufacturers have plenty of experience of producing cluster bombs, and several different types are reported to be deployed.
These are placed in the ground over an area of at least 1,000 square yards. and are designed to detonate together, with each mine ejecting a fuel mixture vertically to form a single aerosol cloud that explodes in a single massive blast.
This weapon was advertised openly in defence magazines in the mid-1990s, with the claim that it produced an effect as damaging as a 1-kiloton nuclear blast.
Risks to civilians
Graphite and cluster bombs have already been used in the Kosovo conflict, and anti-tank planes with DU weapons have been deployed.
If the conflict escalates further - especially if there is a major ground war - then it is well-nigh certain that other area-impact weapons will be used.
They will add greatly to the devastation caused by the war, and increase the risk of further civilian casualties.
Paul Rogers is a member of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.