Cluster bomb

Cluster munitions or cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number of smaller submunitions: a cluster of bomblets. The most common types are intended to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles. Submunition based weapons designed to destroy runways, electric power transmission lines, deliver chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines have also been produced. Some submunition based weapons can disperse non-munition payloads, such as leaflets.

Because cluster bombs release many small unexploded bomblets over a wide area, they can kill or maim civilians long after a conflict has ended. Unexploded submunitions are very costly to locate and remove.

Cluster bombs are prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was adopted in Dublin in May 2008 and will open for signature in December 2008. The general rules of international humanitarian law aimed at protecting civilians also apply to cluster bombs as they do to all weapons.

Development

The first cluster bomb used operationally was the German SD-2 or "Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg", commonly referred to as the Butterfly Bomb. It was used during the Second World War to attack both civilian and military targets. The technology was developed independently by the United States of America, Russia and Italy (see Thermos Bomb). Cluster bombs are now standard air-dropped munitions for many nations, in a wide variety of types. Currently produced by 34 countries and used by at least 23. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/07/europe/cluster.php Austria bans cluster munitions - International Herald Tribune ] ]

Artillery shells that employ similar principles have existed for decades. They are typically referred to as ICM (Improved Conventional Munitions) shells. The US military slang terms for them are "firecracker" or "popcorn" shells, for the many small explosions they cause in the target area.

Types of cluster bombs

A basic cluster bomb is a hollow shell containing from three to more than 2,000 submunitions. Some types are dispensers that are designed to be retained by the aircraft after releasing their munitions. The submunitions themselves may be fitted with small parachute retarders or streamers to slow their descent (allowing the aircraft to escape the blast area in low-altitude attacks).

Modern cluster bombs and submunition dispensers are often multiple-purpose weapons, containing mixtures of anti-armor, anti-personnel, and anti-material munitions. The submunitions themselves may also be multi-purpose, such as combining a shaped charge, to attack armour, with a fragmenting case, to attack infantry, material, and light vehicles. Modern multipurpose munitions may have an incendiary effect.

A growing trend in the design of submunition-based weapons is the smart submunition, which uses guidance circuitry to locate and attack particular targets, usually armored vehicles. Recent weapons of this type include the U.S. CBU-97 sensor-fused weapon, first used in combat during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Munitions specifically intended for anti-tank use may be set to self-destruct if they reach the ground without locating a target, theoretically reducing the risk of unintended civilian deaths and injuries. Although smart submunition weapons are many times more expensive than standard cluster bombs, which are cheaper and simpler to manufacture, far fewer smart submunitions are required for defeating dispersed and mobile targets in an area, offsetting this cost.

Incendiary

Incendiary cluster bombs are intended to start fires, just as conventional incendiary bombs (also called firebombs). They are specifically designed for this purpose, with submunitions of white phosphorus or napalm, and they often include anti-personnel and anti-tank submunitions to hamper firefighting efforts. When used in cities they have often been preceded by the use of conventional explosive bombs to break open the roofs and walls of buildings to expose flammable contents to the incendiaries. One of the earliest examples is the so-called Molotov bread basket first used by the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-40. This type of munition was extensively used by both sides in the strategic bombings of World War II. Bombs of this type were used to start firestorms in cases such as the bombing of Dresden in World War II and the firebombing of Tokyo.A modern development of the incendiary cluster bomb is the thermobaric weapon. In these types of weapons, submunitions are used to deliver a highly combustible aerosol, which is subsequently ignited, resulting in a high pressure explosion.

Anti-personnel

Anti-personnel cluster bombs use explosive fragmentation to kill troops and destroy soft (unarmored) targets. Along with incendiary cluster bombs, these were among the first forms of cluster bombs produced by Germany during World War II. They were famously used during the Blitz with delay and booby-trap fusing to prevent firefighting and other damage control efforts in the bombed areas. They were also used with a contact fuse when attacking entrenchments. These weapons were most widely used during the Vietnam War when many thousands of tons of submunitions were dropped on Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. [Cluster Weapons; Convenience or necessity? http://www.paxchristi.nl/catalogus/uploaded_file.aspx?id=98]

Anti-tank

Most anti-armor munitions contain shaped charge warheads to pierce the armor of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. In some cases, guidance is used to increase the likelihood of successfully hitting a vehicle. Modern guided submunitions, such as those found in the U.S. CBU-97 can use either a shaped charge warhead or an explosively formed penetrator. Unguided shaped-charge submunitions are designed to be effective against entrenchments that incorporate overhead cover. To simplify supply and increase battlefield effectiveness by allowing a single type of round to be used against nearly any target, submunitions that incorporate both fragmentation and shaped-charge effects are produced. In United States Army and Marine Corps Field Artillery units, this is a common type of shell used in ground warfare.

Anti-runway

Anti-runway submunitions such as the British JP233 are designed to penetrate concrete before detonating, allowing them to shatter and crater runway surfaces. In the case of the JP233, the cratering effect is achieved through the use of a two-stage warhead that combines a shaped charge and conventional explosive. The shaped charge creates a small crater inside which the conventional explosive detonates to enlarge it. Anti-runway submunitions are usually used along with anti-personnel submunitions equipped with delay or booby-trap fuses that act as anti-personnel mines to make repair more difficult.

Mine-laying

When submunition-based weapons are used to disperse mines, their submunitions do not detonate immediately, but behave like conventional land mines that detonate later. The submunitions usually include a combination of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Since such mines usually lie on exposed surfaces, the anti-personnel forms, such as the US Area Denial Artillery Munition normally deploy tripwires automatically after landing to make clearing the minefield more difficult. In order to avoid rendering large portions of the battlefield permanently impassable, and to minimize the amount of mine-clearing needed after a conflict, scatterable mines used by the United States are designed to self-destruct after a period of time from 4-48 hours. The internationally agreed definition of cluster munitions being negotiated in the Oslo Process may not include this type of weapon, since landmines are already covered in other specific international instruments.

Chemical weapons

During the 1950s and 1960s, the United States and Soviet Union developed cluster weapons designed to deliver chemical weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 banned their use. Six nations declared themselves in possession of chemical weapons. The US and Russia are in the process of destroying their stockpiles, although they have received extensions for the full destruction.

Anti-electrical

An anti-electrical weapon, the CBU-94/B, was first used by the U.S. in the Kosovo War in 1999. These consist of a TMD (Tactical Munitions Dispenser) filled with 202 BLU-114/B "Soft-Bomb" submunitions. Each submunition contains a small explosive charge that disperses 147 reels of fine conductive fiber, either carbon fiber or aluminum-coated glass fiber. Their purpose is to disrupt and damage electric power transmission systems by producing short circuits in high-voltage power lines and electrical substations. On the first attack, these knocked out 70% of the electrical power supply in Serbia. There are reports that it took 500 people 15 hours to get one transformer yard back on line after being hit with the conductive fibers.

Leaflet dispensing

The LBU-30 is designed for dropping large quantities of leaflets from aircraft. (Dispensing leaflets from the air is a common propaganda tactic in wartime.) Enclosing the leaflets within the bomblets ensures that the leaflets will fall on the intended area without being dispersed excessively by the wind. The LBU-30 consists of SUU-30 dispensers that have been adapted to leaflet dispersal. The dispensers are essentially recycled units from old bombs. The LBU-30 was tested at Eglin Air Force Base in 2000, by an F-16 flying at convert|20000|ft|m. [Global Security.org LBU-30]

History of usage

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 1999

*Used by NATOThere were seven confirmed and five likely incidents involving civilian deaths from cluster bomb use by the United States and Britain. Altogether, some ninety to 150 civilians died from cluster bomb use. The most serious incident involving civilian deaths and the use of cluster bombs occurred on May 7, during the Cluster bombing of Niš. The mid-day attack on Niš airfield, which is located inside the urban zone, killed 14 civilians and injured 28.

After the incident in Niš, the White House quietly issued a directive to the Pentagon to restrict cluster bomb use (at least by U.S. forces). Human Rights Watch considered that to have been the right move, but was concerned, given those risks, that cluster bombs were being used in attacks on urban targets in the first place. The mid-May prohibition against the further use of cluster bombs clearly had an impact on the level of civilian deaths as the war continued, particularly as bombing with unguided weapons (which would otherwise include cluster bombs) significantly intensified towards the end of the month. Nevertheless, the Royal Air Force continued to drop cluster bombs (official chronologies show use at least on May 17, May 31, June 3, and June 4), indicating the need for universal, not national, norms regarding cluster bomb use. [ [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/nato/Natbm200-01.htm Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign - The Crisis in Kosovo ] ]

Lebanon, 2006

*Used by Israel
Human Rights Watch said there was evidence that has Israel used cluster bombs too close to civilians and described them as "unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians" and that "they should never be used in populated areas." [cite news|url=http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/24/isrlpa13798.htm |title=Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon|date=2006-07-24|publisher=HRW] Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using cluster munitions in an attack on Bilda, a Lebanese village, on 19 July [cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/07/1e054faa-dbad-4810-b5f4-4052663eec42.html | title = Middle East: Rice Calls For A 'New Middle East' | date=2006-07-25 | publisher=Radio Free Europe] which killed 1 civilian and injured 12, including seven children. The Israeli "army defended ... the use of cluster munitions in its offensive with Lebanon, saying that using such munitions was 'legal under international law' and the army employedthem 'in accordance with international standards.'" ["EXTRA: Israel defends use of cluster munitions." "Deutsche Presse-Agentur". 25 July 2006. Politics. 19 August 2006. LexisNexis Academic.] Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev added, " [I] f NATO countries stock these weapons and have used them in recent conflicts — in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq — the world has no reason to point a finger at Israel."Friedman, Ina. "Deadly Remnants." "The Jerusalem Report" 13 November 2006: 20-22]

Georgia, 2008

*Used by Georgia, Russia denies use of such equipmentAccording to U.S. Human Rights Watch, the Russian Air Force dropped RBK-250 cluster bombs in populated areas during the war in Georgia, killing at least 11 civilians and injuring dozens: "this is the first known use of cluster munitions since 2006, during Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon" - the group said. [http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/14/georgi19625.htm] However, according to Ove Dullum, Chief Scientist of the Norwegian defence institute FFI, the photos on the Human Rights Watch web site actually showed bomblets made in Israel, as it was identical to one of the kinds of bomblets used in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The claim came in an interview with Sveriges Radio, and was also aired on NRK radio. He told that both HRW as well as the NPA (which upon the rumours about the use of bomblets had launched a protest against Russia), had received this info from him. [http://www.sr.se/webbradio/?Type=db&Id=1322526] Russian Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, answering question about the topic said: "We never use cluster bombs. There is no need to do so." [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSLF640501 Russia "used cluster bombs" in Georgia - rights group] , Reuters, August 15 2008] Human Rights Watch said on September 1 that Georgia had admitted to using cluster bombs during the hostilities in South Ossetia, The Associated Press and AFP reported. [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19363] “Georgian armed forces have GRADLAR 160 multiple launch rocket system and rockets of MK4 LAR 160 type (with M85 bomblets) with the range of 45 kilometers,” the Georgian MoD said. [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19365] Additionally, Human rights watch admitted, that photos from Shindisi and Pkhvenisi allegedly showing Russian submunition duds, are actually images of M85 bomblets [http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/02/georgi19737.htm] as used by the Georgian military. However, Georgia denied the use in that area. Fact|September|date=September 2008

Threat to civilians

While all weapons are potentially dangerous to civilians, cluster bombs pose a particular threat to civilians for two reasons: they have a wide area of effect, and they have consistently left behind a large number of unexploded bomblets. The unexploded bomblets remain dangerous for decades after the end of a conflict.

Cluster munitions are opposed by many individuals and hundreds of groups, such as the Red Cross, [ [http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/ihl-weapon-news-061106?opendocument Cluster munitions: ICRC calls for urgent international action ] ] the Cluster Munition Coalition and the United Nations, because of the high number of civilians that have fallen victim to the weapon. Since February 2005, Handicap International called for cluster munitions to be prohibited and collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to support its call. [ [http://www.clusterbombs.org www.clusterbombs.org] ] 98% of 13,306 recorded cluster munitions casualties that are registered with Handicap International are civilians. [http://en.handicapinternational.be/index.php?action=article&numero=467&PHPSESSID=f60cf971ac6dee500a0ad9b84daf52dd/]

The area affected by a single cluster munition, known as its footprint, can be as large as two or three American football fields [The area of a typical American football field is 0.0054 km², a football(soccer) pitch is at most 0.011 km²] . A single unguided M26 MLRS rocket can effectively cover an area of 0.23 km² [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m26.htm] . In US and most allied services, the M26 has been replaced by the M30 guided missile fired from the MLRS. The M30 has greater range and accuracy but a smaller area of coverage. It is worth noting that for reasons including both danger to civilians and changing tactical requirements, the non-cluster unitary warhead XM31 missile is, in many cases, replacing even the M30.

Because of the weapon's broad area of effect, they have often been documented as striking both civilian and military objects in the target area. This characteristic of the weapon is particularly problematic for civilians when cluster munitions are used in or near populated areas and has been documented by research reports from groups such as Human Rights Watch, [cite paper
url=http://hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/usa1203.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=Human Rights Watch|title=Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq|date=2003-12] Landmine Action, Mines Action Canada and Handicap International. In some cases, like the Zagreb rocket attack, civilians were deliberately targeted by such weapons. [cite paper
url=http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2007/pr1162e-summary.htm|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia|title=Summary of Judgement for Milan Martic|date=2007-6]

Unexploded ordnance

The other serious problem is unexploded ordnance (UXO) of cluster bomblets left behind after a strike. These bomblets may be duds or in some cases the weapons are designed to detonate at a later stage. In both cases, the surviving bomblets are live and can explode when handled, making them a serious threat to civilians and military personnel entering the area. In effect, the UXOs can function like land mines.

Even though cluster bombs are designed to fully explode, there are always some individual submunitions that do not explode on impact. The US-made MLRS with M26 warhead and M77 submunitions are supposed to have a 5% dud rate but studies have shown that some have a much higher rate. [1 Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, "Unexploded Ordnance Report," table 2-3, p. 5. No date, but transmitted to the U.S. Congress on February 29, 2000] The rate in acceptance tests prior to the Gulf War for this type ranged from 2% to a high of 23% for rockets cooled to convert|-25|°F|°C|abbr=on before testing. [cite paper
url=http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat5/149647.pdf |format=PDF|publisher=US General Accounting Office |title=Operation Desert Storm: Casualties Caused by Improper Handling of Unexploded U.S. Submunitions |date=August, 1993 |accessdate=2006-09-01 ] The M483A1 DPICM artillery-delivered cluster bombs have a reported dud rate of 14% [cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/cluster031803.htm|title=Cluster Munitions a Foreseeable Hazard in Iraq|work=Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper] .

Given that each cluster bomb can contain hundreds of bomblets and be fired in volleys, even a small failure rate can lead each strike to leave behind hundreds or thousands of UXOs scattered randomly across the strike area. For example, after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, UN experts have estimated that as many as one million unexploded bomblets may contaminate the hundreds of cluster munition strike sites in Lebanon. [cite news|title='Million bomblets' in S Lebanon|publisher=BBC|date=2006-09-26|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5382192.stm|accessdate=2006-09-26] Hezbollah also used a much smaller number of bomblet-dispersing rockets in its shelling of northern Israel. [ [http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/18/lebano14412.htm http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/18/lebano14412.htm] ]

In addition, some cluster bomblets, such as the BLU-97/B used in the CBU-87, are brightly colored to increase their visibility and warn off civilians. However, the color, coupled with their small and nonthreatening appearance, has caused children to interpret them as toys. This problem was exacerbated in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), when US forces dropped humanitarian rations from airplanes with similar yellow-colored packaging as the BLU-97/B, yellow being the NATO standard colour for high explosive filler in air weapons. The rations packaging was later changed first to blue and then to clear in the hope of avoiding such hazardous confusion.

The US military is developing new cluster bombs that it claims could have a much lower (less than 1%) dud rate. [cite paper |url=http://www.dtic.mil/descriptivesum/Y2005/Army/0603778A.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=Defense Technical Information Center|title=Army RDT&E Budget Item Justification, Item No. 177, MLRS Product Improvement Program|date=February, 1993|accessdate=2006-09-01] However, in the past, manufacturers' claims about new cluster munitions have proven unreliable and the same problems with unexploded ordnance have persisted. Previous claims for example about the reliability of the CBU-87 with BLU-97 submunitions were not borne out by reality in Afghanistan and Kosovo. [cite paper
url=http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/resource.asp?resID=1035|publisher=Landmine Action|title=Cluster munitions in Kosovo: Analysis of use, contamination and casualties|date=February, 2007] Failed verification|date=June 2008 Sensor-fused weapons that contain a limited number of submunitions that are capable of autonomously engaging armored targets may provide a viable, if costly, alternative to cluster munitions that will allow multiple target engagement with one shell or bomb while avoiding the civilian deaths and injuries consistently documented from the use of cluster munitions. Certain such weapons may be allowed under the recently adopted Convention on Cluster Munitions, provided they do not have the indiscriminate area effects or pose the unexploded ordnance risks of cluster munitions.

Civilian deaths from unexploded cluster bomblets

* In Vietnam, people are still being killed as a result of cluster bombs and other objects left by the US and South Vietnamese military forces. Estimates range up to 300 people killed annually by unexploded ordnance. [ [http://clearpathinternational.org/cpiblog/archives/cat_vietnam.php Clear Path International: Assisting Landmine Survivors, their Families and their Communities ] ]
* In post-war Kosovo unexploded cluster bomblets caused more civilian deaths than landmines. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/761092.stm BBC News | EUROPE | Kosovo mine expert criticises Nato ] ]
* In the final 72 hours of the war between Israel and Hezballah, Israel dropped over 1,000,000 cluster bombs on Lebanese civilian populated areas. In August 2006, the UN's Mine Action Coordination Center in Tyre, Lebanon raised an alarm over the post-conflict impact on returning civilians of unexploded cluster bombs used by Israel against Lebanese civilian occupied village areas. Israel has not provided maps to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Israel's refusal to cooperate with the U.N has further caused diplomatic tension.Israel used cluster bombs in Lebanon in 1978 and in the 1980s. The United States placed restrictions on their use and then a moratorium on the transfer of cluster bombs to Israel out of concern for Lebanese civilian casualties, during that time. Those weapons used more than two decades ago by Israel continue to affect Lebanon. [ [http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/24/isrlpa13798.htm Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon (Human Rights Watch, 24-7-2006) ] ] Since the war in 2006 nearly 300 Lebanese civilians have been killed, a small number of the people killed include UN peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon. [ [http://tadamon.resist.ca/index.php/post/1300 Tadamon! » Lebanon: Nearly 300 people killed or wounded since 2006 ] ]

Areas with significant unexploded cluster bomb submunitions

* Nagorno Karabakh
* Lebanon
* Indochina, especially in Laos and central Vietnam's former demilitarized zone.
* Kosovo
* Afghanistan
* Iraq
* Western Sahara

Countries that have been affected by cluster munitions include:

Countries that have stocks of cluster munitions

As of 2008, at least 75 countries have stockpiles of cluster munitions (including all the countries above, that have produced them). Countries listed in bold have subscribed to the Wellington Declaration, agreeing in principle that their stockpiles should be destroyed.

ee also

* Cluster Munition Coalition
* Bomb disposal
* Demining
* Clear Path International
* List of Cluster Bombs

References

External links

* [http://www.stopclustermunitions.org Cluster Munition Coalition]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/connect-us/Cluster_Munitions.pdf An International Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions: Is There a Strategy for Responsible U.S. Engagement?] Connect U.S. Fund April 2008
* [http://www.icrc.org/eng/cluster-munitions Cluster munitions and international humanitarian law] International Committee of the Red Cross
* [http://www.clusterconvention.org Convention on Cluster Munitions] - Official website serving the government initiative to ban cluster munitions
* [http://www.cpi.org Clear Path International]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/lbu-30.htm Global Security.org LBU-30]
* [http://en.handicapinternational.be/index.php?action=article&numero=467&PHPSESSID=f60cf971ac6dee500a0ad9b84daf52dd/ Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities] 16 May 2007
* [http://www.disarmamentinsight.blogspot.com Disarmament Insight] website
* [http://www.cfr.org/publication/12060/ Council on Foreign Relations: The Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs] November 21, 2006
* [http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/12/obama_outshines.php Hillary for, Obama against Cluster Bombs] Ya Libnan December 29, 2007
* [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080528/ts_afp/irelandweaponsdiplomacy Landmark cluster bomb ban agreed by 111 countries] Yahoo! News May 28, 2008
* [http://yalibnan.com/tag/Cluster%20Bombs Cluster Bomb Videos from Lebanon]
* [http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/inc/interactive-map.php?height=480&width=820 Interactive map of cluster bomb producers, stockpilers, users and affected countries]

;Technical
* [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/cbu-97.htm Federation of American Scientists article on the CBU97 and CBU105 cluster bombs with smart munitions.]
* [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/blu-114.htm Federation of American Scientists article on the BLU-114 anti-electrical weapon.] ;Inquiries
* [http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/FADT_CTTE/cluster_bill_2006/index.htm Inquiry by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee of the Australian Senate into the provisions of the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006]