Jul 7, 2023
The U.S. for the first time has pledged to Ukraine cluster munitions: 155-millimeter artillery shells that break open in mid-air and scatter 88 grenade-size bomblets across a wide area.
Dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICM, are “a highly effective and reliable artillery capability to engage area targets,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, shortly after the Pentagon announced it would send the scatterable munitions to Ukraine as part of an $800 million arms package that also includes missiles, howitzers and scores of Stryker and M-2 fighting vehicles.
Cluster munitions are controversial, and many countries—but not the U.S. and certainly not Russia—ban their use. Cluster shells tend to leave behind unexploded bomblets that endanger civilians. The American DPICM shell has a dud rate of around 3%.
That’s why the U.S. rejected a Ukrainian request for cluster shells back in the fall—and why President Joe Biden described the belated decision to send the shells as “difficult.”
But the need is clear. “The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition,” Biden told CNN. Kyiv’s forces, currently counterattacking in southern and eastern Ukraine and slowly making progress, are firing thousands of artillery rounds every day.U.S. forces have used DPICM shells since the 1970s. In 1983, a U.S. Army study concluded that cluster shells are four times as effective compared to unitary shells—with a single high-explosive warhead—when fired at a platoon of enemy fighting vehicles.
As a bonus, the study concluded, a howitzer battery firing cluster shells was more likely to avoid enemy “counterbattery” return fire because it could destroy an enemy target faster—and thus could pack and up and leave before the enemy could triangulate its location.
Conversely, if the counterbattery threat is low, “more targets can be engaged in the same total time” with DPICM shells versus unitary ones.
It’s not for no reason that Dan Rice, a former U.S. Army officer and advisor to the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian forces, last fall urged the Biden Administration to approve DPICM for Ukraine. More targets can be engaged in the same total time. “We’ve sent him the wrong ammo for this battlefield,” Rice wrote. “Let’s rectify that and start sending him the right ammo.”
Yes, there’s risk that sending cluster munitions will result in Ukrainian guns scattering dud bomblets that will require careful cleanup after the war—and in the meantime could maim or kill civilians. But it’s worth noting that this is already happening: the Russians have been firing cluster munitions all along.
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“Yes, there’s risk that sending cluster munitions will result in Ukrainian guns scattering dud bomblets that will require careful cleanup after the war—and in the meantime could maim or kill civilians. But it’s worth noting that this is already happening: the Russians have been firing cluster munitions all along.”
Ukraine is already so infested with duds, mines, and lost and abandoned ammo, that a few cluster bomblets from the AFU won’t make a bit of difference.
In addition, I hate the what’s-good-for-the-goose-is-not-good-for-the-gander type of attitude. Mafia land uses everything except nukes and bioweapons, yet Ukraine must beg on its knees for everything.
One can hardly disagree with the point being made by Mr Axe, who has now also been hired by the DT for his excellent work.
Just imagine the thousands of lives that would have been saved if the defenders had been equipped with Clusters, MBT’s, long range fires, ATACMS, Patriots etc from DAY ONE of putler’s demonic onslaught.
It’s such a massive tragedy that it can’t even be imagined at this time.
Protect Ukraine from the vilest savages ever to consume oxygen. Like NOW.
The DPICM the US will be sending has been comprehensively tested 5 times as having only a 2.4% dud rate.
This is in contrast to the Russian versions which have 30-40%.
The best way to prevent civilian casualities is to end this war as quickly as possible with the defeat if the slobering barbarians who deliberatly target the civilians in the first place.
As said above, if Ukraine had recived all the tools they are getting now this issue would have been over not it this Fall but in the previous one.
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