Textron is a multi-industry company, consisting of numerous subsidiaries and operating units. One subsidiary is Textron Systems, which is active in the defence, homeland security and aerospace sector.

On its website Textron makes no secret of its production of cluster bombs and submunitions:

 "Known as CBU-97 and CBU-105, Textron Defence Systems' Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) is the first and only combat-proven smart area weapon of its kind in U.S. Air Force inventory designed to accurately detect and defeat multiple threat targets. Superior lethality makes it the standoff weapon of choice for anti-armour, anti-air defense and other air combat missions. The SFW, a 1,000-pound class weapon, contains our own BLU-108 submunition and Smart Skeet warheads. Equipped with dual-mode passive infrared and active laser sensors on each warhead, one SFW can simultaneously detect and engage many fixed and moving land combat targets within a 30-acre coverage area. Combat proven on April 2, 2003 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, SFW took out multiple Iraqi tanks in a single pass. SFW's 40 warheads are also equipped with timed self-de-activation modes for clean battlefield operation."

In the military press, Textron also claims that its "SFW leaves a clean battlefield". Textron's claims of strike accuracy and the reliability of the self-destruct mechanisms have been contested.

The SFW has been sold to at least three countries; including the governments of the US and the United Arab Emirates. The latter country signed a contract with Textron in November 2007, with deliveries planned to start from 2008. Moreover, in September 2008 the US government "notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of [510] CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $375 million."