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Cluster Bombs

On 03 December 2008 Representatives from more than 100 governments have begun signing a document binding their countries not to make, stockpile, or use cluster bombs in a two-day signing ceremony in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. The signatories include the Cook Islands in the Pacific, the Vatican's Holy See, the Republic of San Marino, the Seychelles, and Papua-New Guinea. Many military powers -- namely the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India, and Pakistan -- have declined to sign the ban. Arab states are not signing, in response to Israel's action. Anatoly Antonov, the head of the Department for Security and Disarmament of Russia’ Foreign Ministry, said that cluster bombs are legal and effective weapons which are allowed by international law. US Department of States spokesman Robert Wood said that the Bush administration considers the bombs essential in modern warfare.

On 28 May 2008 diplomats from more than 100 countries meeting in Ireland agreed on a draft treaty outlawing cluster bombs. The draft would give signatory nations eight years to destroy their cluster bomb stockpiles. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his government will stop using cluster bombs. But the United States, one of the world's largest builders of the bombs, opposes a ban. The US, Israel, Russia, China, India and Pakistan were not present at the Dublin meeting. Under pressure from NATO countries, the text of the anti-cluster-bomb convention contained a concession to the US and other countries which want to continue to use and produce such munitions, by allowing military cooperation between signatories and non-signatories.

Regardless of its type or purpose, dropped ordnance is dispensed or dropped from an aircraft. Dropped ordnance is divided into three subgroups: bombs; dispensers, which contain submunitions; and submunitions.

Cluster munitions (CBUs) fall into the dumb bomb or unguided category with the exception of the BLU-108/B Sensor Fuzed Weapon and Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD). CBUs combine dispensers, fuzes, and submunitions into a single weapon with a specialized or general purpose mission. Once released, CBUs fall for a specified amount of time or distance before their dispensers open, allowing the submunitions to effectively cover a wide area target. The submunitions are activated by an internal fuze, and can detonate above ground, at impact, or in a delayed mode.

US Air Dispensed Submunitions

Saturation of unexploded submunitions has become a characteristic of the modern battlefield. The potential for fratricide from unexploded ordnance [UXO] is increasing. Joint Publication 1-02 defines unexploded explosive ordnance as “explosive ordnance which has been primed, fused, or otherwise prepared for action, and which has been fired, dropped, launched, projected, or placed in such a manner as to constitute a hazard to operations, installations, personnel or material and remains unexploded either by malfunction or design or for any other cause." Although ground forces are concerned with all unexploded ordnance, the greatest potential for fratricide comes from unexploded submunitions.

Submunition function reliability requirement is no less than 95 percent. With a 95 percent submunition function reliability, one CBU-58 (with 650 submunitions) could produce up to 38 unexploded submunitions. A typical B-52 dropping a full load of 45 CBU-58/CBU-71, each containing 650 submunitions, could produce an average of some 1700 unexploded sub-munitions. The numbers of submunitions that fail to properly function and the submunitions’ dispersion determine the actual density of the hazard area.

After the Kosovo conflict in 1999 much effort has been made to handle the mine and UXO problem in the region. According to the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Center (UNMACC) in Pristina the total number of mines and UXO cleared by 8 March 2001 was assessed at 84,046. More than 55,000 pieces of ammunition had been disposed of, including UXO produced through the failure of munitions to function (duds). The UK EOD unit of the Multi-National Brigade (Centre) carried out investigations of all strike areas in the area of responsibility and prepared statistics for the assessed failure rates. The average failure rates for sub-munition type BLU-97 was assessed at 7.1% and the failure rate for sub-munition type BL755 was assessed at 11.8%.

Studies that show 40 percent of the duds on the ground are hazardous and for each encounter with an unexploded submunition there is a 13 percent probability of detonation. Thus, even though an unexploded submunition is run over, kicked, stepped on, or otherwise disturbed, and did not detonate, it is not safe. Handling the unexploded submunition may eventually result in arming and subsequent detonation.

DISPENSERS

Dispensers may be classified as another type of dropped ordnance. Like bombs, they are carried by aircraft. Their payload, however, is smaller ordnance called submunitions. Dispensers come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the payload inside. Some dispensers are reusable, and some are one-time-use items.

Dropped dispensers fall away from the aircraft and are stabilized in flight by fin assemblies. Dropped dispensers may be in one piece or in multiple pieces. All dropped dispensers use either mechanical time or proximity fuzing. These fuzes allow the payload to be dispersed at a predetermined height above the target. Multiple-piece dispensers open up and disperse their payload when the fuze functions. Single-piece dispensers eject their payload out of ports or holes in the body when the fuze functions.

Attached dispensers stay attached to the aircraft and can be reloaded and used again. Their payload is dispersed out the rear or from the bottom of the dispenser.

SUBMUNITIONS

Most airframes are capable of delivering a variety of submunitions. There is no set air delivery mission profile. The hazard area depends on the submunition, mission profile, target type, and number of sorties. Air Force and naval air power employ cluster bomb units (CBUs) containing submunitions that produce hazard areas similar to MLRS/ cannon artillery submunitions. Air delivered canisters contain varying amounts of CBUs. One CBU-58 or three CBU-87/ CBU-52 contain approximately the same number of submunitions as one MLRS rocket with 644 submunitions. A B-52 dropping a full load of 45 CBUs (each CBU-58/CBU-71 contains 650 submunitions) may produce an hazard area that is significantly more dense than an MLRS hazard area. A typical F-16 flying close air support (CAS) against a point target may drop two CBUs per aircraft per run, thus producing a very low-density hazard area.