As the war in Ukraine continues, the Kyiv government is running low on artillery ammunition. As a stopgap measure, President Biden has approved cluster bombs, or cluster bomb units (CBU), as part of the latest military aid package to Ukraine. Not everyone agrees this move is a good idea, however, and the president faces significant pushback even from within his own party. Cluster bombs come in various shapes and sizes and can be designed for both anti-personnel and anti-armor. These weapons are also referred to more generally as Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPCIM), according to US Army information.
The weapons can be deployed as artillery shells, cruise missiles, rockets, and gravity bombs. As a rule, the small bombs, also called submunitions, are placed in a larger, conventional-looking artillery shell, missile, or bomb casing. When the larger container is dropped, fired, or launched at a target and reaches a predesignated altitude, the container either opens like a clamshell or the submunitions are ejected out the back.
More than 100 nations have banned the use of CBU munitions because, historically, there is a high percentage of duds among the ones that do not explode immediately. Sometimes the bomblets explode long after being delivered, injuring or killing civilians. The United States, however, did not sign the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the controversial explosives.
Dud Rate for US Cluster Bombs Low
Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, explained during a July 7 White House press briefing that the CBU ordinance the US is supplying Ukraine has a significantly reduced "dud rate." Sullivan made the case that Ukraine will use cluster munitions as a defensive measure on its sovereign soil, unlike the Russians, who have been using cluster bombs since the invasion nearly 17 months ago. Additionally, Sullivan pointed out that Russian forces are using cluster munitions “specifically” to attack civilians.
He also spoke to the "dud rate" of the submunitions. "Critically, there is a big difference between the type of cluster munitions being used by Russia and the type we would provide to Ukraine. Ours have a maximum 2.5% dud rate. The dud rate of the Russian munitions is between 30% and 40%," Sullivan told the White House press corps. The motivation for providing the cluster bombs is to bridge the gap in artillery rounds being used by Ukraine. "But Ukraine is burning through stockpiles of conventional artillery, and administration officials ultimately decided they had little choice amid fears that Russia would gain the upper hand if Ukrainian soldiers ran out (of artillery shells)," The New York Times explained.
Biden’s Party Criticized the Decision
Strong opposition to the decision came from House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-MN). "As a strong supporter of the Biden administration's policy in Ukraine, I must state in the strongest possible terms my absolute opposition to the US transferring cluster munitions. These weapons should be eliminated from our stockpiles, not dumped in Ukraine," Rep. McCollum warned in a press statement released shortly after the decision was announced. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) echoed McCollum's sentiments, tweeting: "I am alarmed to hear @POTUS is considering sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. Many people are unaware of these dangerous weapons."
Affirmation for the Biden national security team's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine came from a regular White House national security team critic. "For Ukrainian forces to defeat Putin's invasion, Ukraine needs at least equal access to the weapons Russia already use against them, like cluster munitions. Providing this new capability is the right decision – even if it took too long – and is one I've long supported," Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) said in a statement on Twitter.
Furthermore, the Biden decision on cluster munitions supported a joint request by Republican Senators James Risch (R-WI), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Congressmen Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Mike Rogers, chairman, House Armed Services Committee. “[W]e believe that DPICM (Dual-purpose Improved Conventional Munitions) could help fill a key gap for Ukraine's military, and, in concert with other provided capabilities, continue to push Putin's forces out of Ukraine," the legislators' March 21 letter concluded.
(Photo by Aziz Karimov/Getty Images)
As the fighting on the ground remains a slugfest between the courageous Ukraine soldiers and the Kremlin invaders moving from trench to trench, cluster bombs will provide an edge for Kyiv. The CBU munitions will keep Russia's troops confined in defensive positions, unable to move for fear of the exploding bomblets spread around them. Depending on the altitude at which the clamshell CBU bomb casings open, the area covered can be adjusted. Having hundreds of explosions going off in the trenches and all around a dug-in Russian infantry is a game-changer for Ukraine.
