What Makes Cluster Bombs Controversial?

Cluster submunitions have been around since World War II and unexploded submunitions can cause considerable collateral damage.

Cluster munitions, frequently called “cluster bombs,” have an engineering history that dates back to World War II, when the German Air Force used the weapon against Allied civilian and military targets. As the name implies, cluster munitions are canisters of anywhere from a handful to several thousand small explosives which are designed to scatter widely and explode over a very large area. Unexploded submunitions, however, may remain dangerous for months or years after a battle.

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Episode Transcript:

The recent political controversy over the Biden Administration’s decision to supply the Ukrainian military with cluster munitions has triggered widespread discussion over this military technology. Much of the discussion is political, and much of it is technically inaccurate.

Cluster munitions, frequently called “cluster bombs,” have an engineering history that dates back to World War II, when the German Air Force used the weapon against Allied civilian and military targets. As the name implies, cluster munitions are canisters of anywhere from a handful to several thousand small explosives which are designed to scatter widely and explode over a very large area.

Even the first-generation devices of 75 years ago were very lethal, and a single submunition, then called a “butterfly bomb,” could deliver death or injury up to 100 yards away from the point of impact. Modern cluster munitions may explode on impact, or they may be fused to air burst, which can increase lethality. Incendiary versions also exist.

Cluster munitions may be airdropped from aircraft or drones, be integrated in the warhead of a guided missile or rocket or fired as artillery shells.

The reason why cluster bombs are controversial is not because of their battlefield effect, but of their potential for civilian casualties from unexploded submunitions that may remain for months or years after battle. If picked up or disturbed, they may explode with an effect similar to an antipersonnel landmine.

That is a critical distinction: antipersonnel landmines, which may also be dropped in clusters like a cluster bomb, are designed to land intact and detonate when stepped on or disturbed, primarily to act as an area denial weapon on the battlefield. Landmines are also a considerable hazard to civilians after a battle.  

But cluster munitions are designed to explode on or over the battlefield when fired, and accidental death or injury after battle is a consequence of quality control issues during the manufacturing of the weapon.

The Cluster Munition Coalition of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines created a Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008 to create an international framework for prohibition on these weapons, similar to efforts to ban landmines. While 123 nations to date have signed the convention, notable non-signatories to the ban include Russia, the United States and Ukraine.

So far in the Ukraine conflict, no publicly available statistical analysis of the failure rate of cluster munitions in use has been released, but unlike landmines, better manufacturing quality control and high reliability fuses and dispenser mechanisms are an engineering approach which could have the effect of greatly reducing or eliminating the hazards of cluster munitions without an outright ban.

In the meantime, increased use of both cluster munitions and remotely deployed antipersonnel mines in the current Ukraine conflict seems likely.

Written by

James Anderton

Jim Anderton is the Director of Content for ENGINEERING.com. Mr. Anderton was formerly editor of Canadian Metalworking Magazine and has contributed to a wide range of print and on-line publications, including Design Engineering, Canadian Plastics, Service Station and Garage Management, Autovision, and the National Post. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and part design for a Tier One automotive supplier.