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The US government is considering sending cluster munitions to Ukraine to support the country’s fight against Russia.
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Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, are reportedly already being used by both countries in the Ukraine War.
The dual-purpose improved conventional munitions are typically fired from artillery or by surface-to-surface missile, designed for a projectile to burst in flight and release large numbers of smaller bomblets that detonate over a wide area.
Risk associated with cluster munitions occur when civilians are caught in the wide-area detonation or impacted by unexploded munitions which remain live years after the end of the conflict.
Cluster munitions were previously exported to South Korea by the US government in January 2021.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the munitions are under consideration for anti-armour and anti-personnel purposes.
“That (DPICM) is something that is under consideration. I will say that we have multiple variants of DPICMs in our stocks and the ones that we are considering providing would not include older variants with dud rates that are higher than 2.35 per cent,” he said during a press briefing on 6 July.
“We are aware of reports out there from several decades ago that indicate that certain 155-mm DPICMs have higher dud rates, so we would be carefully selecting rounds with lower dud rates for which we have recent testing data.”
Brig Gen Ryder said the US remains united with allies and partners for the support of Ukraine and providing Ukraine with the capabilities that they need to be effective on the battlefield.
“Throughout the course of this conflict, we’ve had regular discussions with the Ukrainians, regular discussions with our allies and partners in terms of what are the kinds of capabilities that Ukraine needs on the battlefield,” he said.
“DPICMs are a capability that is under consideration.
“I think what DPICMs bring to a battlefield is anti-armour and anti-personnel capability.
“Essentially it can be either loaded with shape charges, which are armour-penetrating, or they can be loaded with fragmentary munitions, which are anti-personnel. So clearly, a capability that would be useful in any type of offensive operations.
“I would note that the Russians have already been employing cluster munitions on the battlefield, which included very high dud rate, reportedly.”
