"Cluster munition" means a munition that is designed to scatter or release explosive submunitions: small-caliber unguided projectiles or small-caliber bombs weighing less than 20 kilograms, which are designed to explode before, at the time or after impact. Depending on the model of the munition, the number of submunitions scattered or released from a cluster munition can range from several dozen to 600 or more. A cluster bomb is dropped from the air or launched from the ground.
The main international treaty regulating this type of weapons is the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Convention on Cluster Munitions, 2008).
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, developed during the so-called "Oslo process" and adopted in May 2008 in Dublin (Ireland), was opened for signature on December 3-4, 2008. The document entered into force on August 1, 2010. Currently 123 States have joined it.
In accordance with the Convention, cluster munitions, as well as explosive, easily unfolding and flattening bullets, chemical weapons, biological weapons, anti-personnel mines, weapons whose main effect is to cause damage by undetectable fragments, and blinding laser weapons, are considered weapons whose use is prohibited by international humanitarian law.
According to the definitions given in the Convention, "cluster munition" does not mean the following:
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a munition or sub-munition designed to scatter lighting, smoke, pyrotechnic devices or dipole reflectors; or a munition designed exclusively for air defense purposes;
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a munition or sub-munition designed to exert electrical or electronic influence;
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a munition that, in order to avoid indiscriminate areal effects and risks generated by unexploded submunitions, has all the following characteristics:
— each munition contains less than 10 explosive submunitions;
— each explosive submunition weighs more than four kilograms;
— each explosive submunition is designed to detect and defeat a single target;
— each explosive submunition is equipped with an electronic self-destruct mechanism;
— each explosive submunition is equipped with an electronic self-deactivation element.
According to article 1 of the Convention, each State Party undertakes never, under any circumstances, to use cluster munitions; not to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, accumulate, preserve or transfer cluster munitions to anyone, directly or indirectly; not to help, encourage or encourage anyone nor to carry out activities prohibited for the State party under the Convention. The transfer of cluster munitions to another State Party for the purpose of destruction is permitted. The Convention on Cluster Munitions does not apply to mines.
" Victims of cluster munitions " means all persons who have been killed or injured physically or mentally, have suffered economic losses, have been socially marginalized or have been significantly restricted in the exercise of their rights as a result of the use of cluster munitions. These include those directly affected by cluster munitions, as well as their affected relatives and their communities.
The progenitors of cluster weapons are the Germans. Luftwaffe pilots during the Polish campaign of 1939 began using various types of bomb cassettes against Polish cavalry and infantry. Thus, the AB 250-3 ammunition, which looks like an ordinary 250-kg aerial bomb, was equipped with 108 small-sized SD-2 fragmentation bombs. Each such bomb was equipped with a parachute-propeller, which allowed to reduce its rate of descent and ensured the dispersion of bombs over an area of several hundred square meters after the cassette was opened in the air. SD-2 received a rather romantic name Schmetterling (butterfly), since when the wings of the propeller rotated, the flight of the SD-2 bombs was similar to the fluttering of a butterfly. Depending on the fuzes used, the bomb was detonated by hitting the ground 5-30 minutes after landing or still in the air. Some of them were anti-personnel fragmentation mines. The striking effectiveness of such cluster bombs against enemy infantry was much higher than the explosion of a single, even 250-kg bomb: the radius of destruction increased from 30 to 300 meters, 10 times.
Cluster bombs were actively used during the Second World War (1939-1945). They were used not only against the enemy's manpower, but also against his equipment, in particular, tanks. It was possible to get into the tank with one bomb only by accident, so Soviet designers developed special small-sized anti−tank cumulative bombs PTAB-2.5-1.5. 48 such ammunition could be placed in one KMB-type cassette. The use of such bombs helped to dramatically increase the effectiveness of bombing and assault attacks on tank columns.
The high efficiency of cluster munitions led to their widespread use after the end of World War II.
They were used during the Korean War and Vietnam. During the Korean War, the US military used the same German Schmetterling bombs, giving them a new designation – AN M83. Later, the United States also created its own cluster bombs, for example, the SUU-31/B, which was filled with several dozen BLU 26/B submunitions, which received the nickname "Guava" for their characteristic shape. These ammunition, the size of an ordinary apple, had walls made of a light alloy, into which 300 small steel 5.5-mm balls were fused. Such a filling dramatically increased the striking capabilities of this bomb.
Modern cluster munitions are special casings-cassettes equipped inside with a large number (from several tens to hundreds) of small ammunition (mines or bombs) of small caliber. Such small-caliber ammunition is commonly called cluster combat elements. According to the purpose, these combat elements can be divided into three types:
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cluster fragmentation combat elements with instantaneous fuses. They are used to destroy convoys, aircraft parked in parking lots, oil storage facilities and other similar purposes.
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cluster combat elements are anti-tank (cumulative), used to combat enemy armored vehicles: its tanks, self-propelled guns, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and other armored targets (armor penetration can reach up to 300 mm).
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cluster fragmentation combat elements with mine-type fuses, which are designed for mining airfields, railway stations, port facilities, etc.
The White House announced the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine on the evening of July 7. This will be another step towards escalation, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said earlier.
The Arms Control Association also stated that Washington's transfer of cluster munitions to Kiev threatens to escalate the conflict and could lead to an increase in casualties. The international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch warned the United States against transferring cluster munitions to Ukrainian troops, saying that this would inevitably lead to long-term suffering of the civilian population and negate international condemnation of their use. According to an investigation conducted by HRW in the fall of 2022, Ukrainian troops used cluster shells during the bombing of Izyum and its environs. As a result, at least eight civilians were killed and 15 others were injured. The fact that Kiev uses cluster munitions was also reported in its report by UN experts, who clarified that Ukraine resorted to such weapons from March to September 2022.
The topic of the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine has been discussed since the beginning of March 2023. Then the Kiev regime included MK-20 Rockeye cluster munitions in the list of weapons it wants to receive from Washington. It was about free-falling unguided cluster bombs designed to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
