Cluster Munitions: What Are They? Reports since the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine have repeatedly detailed the use of “cluster” munitions by the Russian military. Despite often hearing about these weapons in the news, few understand them, their history, their impact, and the ways in which countries have attempted to limit their use.
Most simply, cluster munitions are weapons deployed through a variety of means (aircraft, artillery, rockets, or missiles) that explode in mid-air over a target and disperse small submunitions. These tiny “bombs” can be as few as a couple of dozen or as numerous as several hundred and can be thought of as similar to the spray of a shotgun round.
As with a shotgun, the value in this design is its efficiency: one cluster munition can destroy multiple targets within its larger targeted area. This requires the use of fewer weapons overall.
Usage:
Recognized for their efficiency, weapons such as this have been used by many countries throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
A report by the Congressional Research Service states that cluster munitions have been used by at least thirteen different countries in 21 states.
They were used extensively by the US throughout Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, by the Soviets in Afghanistan, by the Brits in the Falklands, by coalition forces in Desert Storm, and by warring factions in Yugoslavia, including NATO.
In the 21st century, the US has used these munitions in both Afghanistan and Iraq; the Israeli use of cluster munitions against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 is another notable example from the 21st century.
Cluster Munitions: A Truly Terrifying Weapon
Despite their efficiency, the collateral damage of cluster munitions is well-known. When fired into areas that contain civilians nearby, these weapons do not discriminate against those civilians and combatants, a likely violation of the laws of war. Additionally, cluster munitions tend to have a fairly high failure rate, leaving submunitions scattered across areas of conflict like mines.
Although manufacturers often claim a 2-5% failure rate (already extremely high in context), mine clearance specialists have reported failure rates of 10-30%. Without a “self-destruct” capability, these weapons can remain dangerous for decades past the time they were deployed. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for example, estimates that such unexploded munitions have led to over 10,000 civilian casualties in Laos alone.
Should They Be Completely Banned?
Given the difficulties in target discrimination and failure rate, countries around the world have attempted to limit the use of cluster munitions. This has resulted in the UN Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), negotiated in 1980 and entering into force in 1983. Despite this treaty, banning cluster munitions still faced difficulties, so Norway led international negotiations in 2007-2008 for a Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM).
Notably, the US, Russia, China, Israel, Egypt, India and Pakistan all did not sign the agreement, even though it does not prohibit cluster munitions that come with electronic self-destruction features.
Today, Russia’s alleged use of cluster munitions against Ukraine raises the same questions US use of the weapon did throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. The looming question will be whether or not, in an age of increasingly precise weapons, cluster munitions will continue to be seen as a necessary component of warfare.
Alex Betley is a recent graduate of the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where he was an International Security Studies Civil Resistance Fellow and Senior Editor with the Fletcher Security Review
