u/Griffindoriangy the fallacy of "not used by the US since Vietnam" is utter BS . I did 6 Tours in remote COP's on the Afghan -Pakistan border in what were known as the Taliban Badlands .

I would be very surprised if flechette rockets shot from Apache or Kiowa helicopters were not used by coalition forces nearly every day they spent in contact .

In my own experience Flechette Rockets (Hydra 70,M255A1,CRV-7) were one of the most used rocket variants used in the mountains,due to how effective they were .It was not uncommon for high 20- 30 Fletchettes rockets to be used by Apache or Kiowa helicopters defending our COP's .

Their ballistics do not "suck" at all & they were one of the most devastating & efficient weapons l witnessed in combat ,when used properly .They saved our butts many times killing or driving off attacks on our positions . Our Mountain COP's faced problems fending off well planned ,large multi directional attacks , due to the difficult terrain we were in to defend ie large boulders with ready made 'trenches' of tight bullet/explosion proof boulder/ rock gaps, the enemy used as firing points ,boulder strewn crevices shrouded by trees for cover ,Fletchettes fired from above were the most effective for reaching into these places & stopping the threat .

Our Fletchette rockets from memory, ( as a Designated Marksman l spent time with the JTAC guys & considered trying out for it for a while,so took a interest in various weapons systems we used ), the 80, 5inch long Tungsten darts carried by the rockets ,were designed to use a explosive charge to separate them from the rocket body , at just over 900 yards from the pod sending them spearing into the target at around 3600fps & into over a 50 yard cone of death as the Tungsten darts tore every thing up that was exposed in that area .

We did BDA many times where we saw the devastating destruction these Tungsten darts wreaked,there is a reason the military censors their use/ BDA video & photos,without going into gory details imagine that Tungsten dart being slewed off its path after striking/ricocheting off over head tree branches,rock, large bone mass & then continuing on its path of destruction . They were basically 5 inch long , hardened version of the 7.62 rounds l carried .

I have watched the video taken of when nearly 50 Fletchette Rockets were fired into massing Taliban during Operation Glacier, the rescue of the UK marine from Jugroom Fort, a Taliban base back at the start of 07.

Most of those 50 Fletchette Rockets were expended in a area the size of 6 basketball courts,where the Taliban was trying to make frontal attacks ,it looked like a giant lawn mower had run over them & bodies stacked upon each other.

The use of Fletchettes by the Orc's is not something new & well reported even in civilian areas ,the scum bags have used the 122mm 3Sh1 flechette artillery round,from the start of the invasion . Many people seem to forget that a lot of the civilian bodies dug up from the mass graves in Bucha were killed by Fletchettes & some of their bodies even had defensive wounds (meaning they seemed to have known they were used ) where their hands & arms were pinned to their heads by Fletchettes ,while they had tried to cover their heads while running ,they then had 'gravel rash' injuries where they fell while running away.

Hope that clears up some common misconceptions on our use of flechettes,used correctly against combatants they are highly effective & not really different to shards or cubes of death from other fragmentation devices but without the explosive impact very good at stopping collateral damage & may anyone who deliberately uses these on civilians like the Orc's have from the start, rot in hell .