Кассетное оружие: состав, применение и последствия

Explosive weapon with small submunitions

A cluster munition is a form of air dropped or ground launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines. Because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area, they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove. This failure rate ranges from 2 percent to 40 percent or more. Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying states on 1 August 2010, six months after being ratified by 30 states. As of 10 February 2022, a total of 123 states have joined the Convention, as 110 states parties and 13 signatories.

The first significantly operationally used cluster bomb was the German SD 2 or Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg, commonly referred to as the Butterfly Bomb. It was used in World War II to attack both civilian and military targets, including on Tokyo and Kyushu. The technology was developed independently by the United States, Russia and Italy (see Thermos bomb). The US used the M41 fragmentation bomb wired together in clusters of 6 or 25 with highly sensitive or proximity fuzes. From the 1970s to the 1990s cluster bombs became standard air dropped munitions for many nations, in a wide variety of types. They have been produced by 34 countries and used in at least 23. 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.

A basic cluster bomb consists of a hollow shell and then two to more than 2,000 submunitions or bomblets contained within it. 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).

Incendiary cluster bombs are intended to start fires, just like conventional incendiary bombs (firebombs). They contain submunitions of white phosphorus or napalm, and can be combined anti personnel and anti tank submunitions to hamper firefighting efforts.

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 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.

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 submunitions. Each submunition contains a small explosive charge that disperses 147 reels of fine conductive fiber of either carbon or aluminum coated glass. 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 initial attack, these knocked out 70% of the electrical power supply in Serbia.

During the Vietnam War, the US used cluster bombs in air strikes against targets in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Of the 260 million cluster bomblets that rained down on Laos between 1964 and 1973, particularly on Xieng Khouang province, 80 million failed to explode. As of 2009 about 7,000 people have been injured or killed by explosives left from the Vietnam War era in Vietnam's Quảng Trị province alone.

During the South Lebanon conflict in 1978, the IDF used cluster bombs provided by the United States. According to U. S. President Jimmy Carter, this use of the cluster bombs violated the legal agreement between Israel and the U. S. because the weapons had been provided for defensive purposes against an attack on Israel. Israel also transferred American weapons to Saad Haddad's Lebanese militia, a violation of American law. The RMA used both artillery fired and air dropped cluster munitions. BLU 63, M42 and MK118 submunitions were used at multiple locations in Bir Lahlou, Tifarity, Mehaires, Mijek and Awganit. More than 300 cluster strike areas have been recorded in the MINURSO Mine Action Coordination Center database.

During the Soviet Afghan War, the Soviets dealt harshly with Mujaheddin rebels and those who supported them, including leveling entire villages to deny safe havens to their enemy and the usage of cluster bombs.

Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy dropped BL755 cluster bombs on Argentinian positions during the Falklands War of 1982.

The United States dropped 21 Rockeye cluster bombs during its invasion of Grenada. As of 2010, remain off limits due to contamination with unexploded cluster ordnance. HALO Trust has made major contributions to the cleanup effort. During renewed hostilities in April 2016, HALO Trust reported the use of cluster bombs by Azerbaijan, having found cluster munitions in the villages of Nerkin Horatagh and Kiçik Qarabəy. Azerbaijan reported that the Armenian forces had used cluster munition against Azerbaijani civilians in the given period. According to the Cluster Munition Monitor report in 2010, neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan not acceded to become a member of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Further use of cluster munition was reported during the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war. The Armenian populated city of Stepanakert came under bombardment throughout the war, beginning on the first day. Human Rights Watch reported that residential neighborhoods in Stepanakert which lacked any identifiable military targets were hit by the Azerbaijani Army with cluster munitions. Human Rights Watch also identified Azerbaijani usage of cluster munitions in Hadrut. Human Rights Watch also reported the use of cluster munitions by the Armenian forces during the months long bombardment of Tartar, missile attacks on Barda and on Goranboy. Amnesty International also confirmed that the Armenian forces had used cluster munitions in Barda, which resulted in the deaths of 25 Azerbaijani civilians, according to Azerbaijan.

Extensively used by Israel during the 1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the 1982–2000 occupation of Lebanon and also by Hezbollah in the 2006 Lebanon War. During the Israeli Lebanese conflict in 1982, Israel used cluster munitions, many of them American made, on targets in southern Lebanon. Israel also used cluster bombs in the 2006 Lebanon War. Two types of cluster munitions were transferred to Israel from the U. S. The first was the CBU 58 which uses the BLU 63 bomblet. This cluster bomb is no longer in production. The second was the MK 20 Rockeye, produced by Honeywell Incorporated in Minneapolis. The CBU 58 was used by Israel in Lebanon in both 1978 and 1982. According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, Israel dropped up to four million submunitions on Lebanese soil, of which one million remain unexploded. According to a report prepared by Lionel Beehner for the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States restocked Israel's arsenal of cluster bombs, triggering a State Department investigation to determine whether Israel had violated secret agreements it had signed with the United States on their use. Halutz claimed that some cluster bombs had been fired against his direct order, which stated that cluster bombs should be used with extreme caution and not be fired into populated areas. The IDF apparently disobeyed this order. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using cluster munitions in an attack on Bilda, a Lebanese village, on 19 July 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 employed them 'in accordance with international standards. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev added, "[I]f NATO countries stock these weapons and have used them in recent conflicts – in FR Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq – the world has no reason to point a finger at Israel."

Georgia and Russia both were accused of using cluster munitions during the 2008 Russo Georgian War. Georgia admitted use; Russia denied it. Georgia admitted using cluster bombs during the war, according to Human Rights Watch but stressed they were only used against military targets. The Georgian army used LAR 160 multiple rocket launchers to fire MK4 LAR 160 type rockets (with M 85 bomblets) with a range of 45 kilometers the Georgian Minister of Defense (MoD) said. Human Rights Watch accused the Russian Air Force of using RBK 250 cluster bombs during the conflict. A high ranking Russian military official denied use of cluster bombs. The Dutch government, after investigating the death of a Dutch citizen, claimed that a cluster munition was propelled by an 9K720 Iskander tactical missile (used by Russia at the time of conflict, and not used by Georgia).

It was reported in April 2011 that Colonel Gaddafi's forces had used cluster bombs in the conflict between government forces and rebel forces trying to overthrow Gaddafi's government, during the battle of Misrata These reports were denied by the government, and the Secretary of State of the US, Hillary Clinton said she was "not aware" of the specific use of cluster or other indiscriminate weapons in Misurata even though a New York Times investigation refuted those claims.

During the Syrian uprising, a few videos of cluster bombs first appeared in 2011, but escalated in frequency near the end of 2012. The type of bombs have been reported to be RBK 250 cluster bombs with AO 1 SCH bomblets (of Soviet design). According to the seventh annual Cluster Munition Report, there is ″compelling evidence″ that Russia has used cluster munitions during their involvement in Syria.

Cluster bombs remnants were discovered by a UN de mining team in February 2014 on a section of road near the Jonglei state capital, Bor. The strategic town was the scene of heavy fighting, changing hands several times during the South Sudanese Civil War, which erupted in the capital Juba on 15 December 2013 before spreading to other parts of the country. According to UNMAS, the site was contaminated with the remnants of up to eight cluster bombs and an unknown quantity of bomblets.

Human Rights Watch reported that "Ukrainian government forces used cluster munitions in populated areas in Donetsk city in early October 2014." Also "circumstances indicate that anti government forces might also have been responsible for the use of cluster munitions".

British supplied and U. S. supplied cluster bombs have been used by Saudi Arabian led military coalition against Houthi militias in Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia is not signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The New York Times journalist Christiaan Triebert revealed that the Ethiopian Air Force bombings of Samre during the Tigray War are evidenced by multiple photos of the tails of Soviet era cluster bombs, likely RBK 250. Ethiopia is not signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Human Rights Watch reported the use of cluster munitions by the Russian Armed Forces during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. HRMMU reported 16 credible allegations that Russian armed forces used cluster munitions in
populated areas, resulting in civilian casualties and other damage. Further use of cluster munitions, such as the Uragan 9M27K and BM 30 Smerch 9M55K cluster rockets, is being investigated by Bellingcat through a public appeal for evidence on Twitter. According to HRW and Amnesty International, Russian troops used cluster munition during an attack on the city of Okhtyrka on the morning of 25 February 2022. The same day, non precision guided missiles bearing cluster munitions were deployed against Kharkiv, killing at least nine civilians and injuring 37. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on 30 March 2022 that they had credible reports indicating that Russian armed forces had used cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine at least 24 times since the start of the conflict on 24 February. In early March 2022, The New York Times reported the first use of a cluster munition by Ukrainian troops during the invasion near Husarivka farm. It landed close to the Russian army’s headquarters. According to the report, nobody died in that strike. On 14 March 2022, an attack with a Tochka U missile equipped with cluster sub munitions was reported in the city of Donetsk. HRMMU confirmed at least 15 civilian deaths, and 36 injured in this incident, and at the time of its report was working to corroborate other alleged casualties and whether they were caused by cluster sub munitions. On 6 July 2023, U. S. president Joe Biden approved the provision of DPICM cluster munitions to Ukraine to help Ukrainian forces with the ongoing counteroffensive to liberate Russian occupied southeastern Ukraine, bypassing U. S. law prohibiting the transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate greater than one percent. The weapon system could be used in both HIMARS and 155mm shell projectiles. Defense Department official Laura Cooper said that the munitions "would be useful, especially against dug in Russian positions on the battlefield." According to the Pentagon, Ukraine will receive an "improved" version of cluster munitions with a failure rate of about 2 percent, while the Russian cluster bombs fail at 40 percent or more. However, according to a report prepared for Congress, experts in cleanup operations "have frequently reported failure rates of 10% to 30%." The failure rate of cluster munitions used by Ukraine is reportedly as high as 20 percent. Paul Hannon, of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), said the Biden administration's decision will "contribute to the terrible casualties being suffered by Ukrainian civilians both immediately and for years to come". On the same day, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) released a study citing the use of cluster munitions from the Vietnam War. United States Army studies from that war showed that it takes approximately 13.6 high explosive shells for each enemy soldier killed. A shell firing DPICMs relied on average only 1.7 shells to kill an enemy soldier. RUSI used an example of a trench, a direct hit by a high explosive round will spread shrapnel "within line of sight of the point of detonation". This also reduces the wear and tear on the barrels of 155mm artillery weapons systems. On 16 July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia had "sufficient stockpiles" of its own cluster munitions and threatened to take "reciprocal action" if Ukraine used US supplied cluster munitions against Russian forces in Ukraine. On 20 July 2023, The Washington Post reported that Ukrainian forces had begun to use US supplied cluster munitions against Russian forces in the south east of the country, according to Ukrainian officials.

While all weapons are dangerous, cluster bombs pose a particular threat to civilians for two reasons: they have a wide area of effect, and they consistently leave behind a large number of unexploded bomblets. The unexploded bomblets can remain dangerous for decades after the end of a conflict. For example, while the United States cluster bombing of Laos stopped in 1973, cluster bombs and other unexploded munitions continued to cause over 100 casualties per year to Laotian civilians as of 2009. Cluster munitions are opposed by many individuals and hundreds of groups, such as the Red Cross, 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. 98% of 13,306 recorded cluster munitions casualties that are registered with Handicap International are civilians, while 27% are children. The area affected by a single cluster munition, known as its footprint, can be very large; a single unguided M26 MLRS rocket can effectively cover an area of 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. 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, as documented in a research report by Human Rights Watch. In some cases, like the Zagreb rocket attack, civilians were deliberately targeted by such weapons.

The other serious problem, also common to explosive weapons 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 explode prior to or on impact, there are always some individual submunitions that do not explode on impact. As of 2000, the US made MLRS with M26 warhead and M77 submunitions which were supposed to have a 5% dud rate, but studies have shown that some have a much higher rate. 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 before testing. The M483A1 DPICM artillery delivered cluster bombs have a reported dud rate of 14%. In July 2023, the failure rate of Russian cluster bombs during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was reported to be at 40 percent or more. 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 yellow color, coupled with their small and nonthreatening appearance, is attractive to young children who wrongly believe them to be toys. This problem was exacerbated in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), 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. As of 1993, the US military was developing new cluster bombs that it claimed could have a much lower (less than 1%) dud rate. 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. In the 1980s the Spanish firm Esperanza y Cia developed a 120mm caliber mortar bomb which contained 21 anti armor submunitions. What made the 120mm "Espin" unique was the electrical impact fusing system which totally eliminated dangerous duds. The system operated on a capacitor in each submunition which was charged by a wind generator in the nose of the projectile after being fired. If for whatever reason the electrical fuse fails to function on impact, approximately 5 minutes later the capacitor bleeds out, therefore neutralizing the submunition's electronic fuse system.

In Vietnam, people are still being killed as a result of cluster bombs and other objects left by the US and Vietnamese military forces. Hundreds of people are killed or injured annually by unexploded ordnance. Some 270 million cluster submunitions were dropped on Laos in the 1960s and 1970s; approximately one third of these submunitions failed to explode and continue to pose a threat today. Within the first year after the end of the Kosovo War, more than 100 civilians died from unexploded bombs and mines. During the war, NATO planes dropped nearly 1,400 cluster bombs in Kosovo. Cluster bombs make up to 40% of mines and unexploded bombs in Kosovo. Israel used cluster bombs in Lebanon in 1978 and in the 1980s. Those weapons used more than two decades ago by Israel continue to affect Lebanon. During the 2006 war in Lebanon, Israel fired large numbers of cluster bombs in Lebanon, containing an estimated more than 4 million cluster submunitions. In the first month following the ceasefire, unexploded cluster munitions killed or injured an average of 3–4 people per day.

According to the US State Department, the U. S. suspended operational use of cluster munitions in 2003,

U. S. arguments favoring the use of cluster munitions are that their use reduces the number of aircraft and artillery systems needed to support military operations and if they were eliminated, significantly more money would have to be spent on new weapons, ammunition, and logistical resources. Also, militaries would need to increase their use of massed artillery and rocket barrages to get the same coverage, which would destroy or damage more key infrastructures. In May 2008, then Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs Stephen Mull stated that the U. S. military relies upon cluster munitions as an important part of their war strategy. Mull emphasized that "U. S. forces simply cannot fight by design or by doctrine without holding out at least the possibility of using cluster munitions." The U. S. Army ceased procurement of GMLRS cluster rockets in December 2008 because of a submunition dud rate as high as five percent. Pentagon policy was to have all cluster munitions used after 2018 to have a submunition unexploded ordnance rate of less than one percent. To achieve this, the Army undertook the Alternative Warhead Program (AWP) to assess and recommend technologies to reduce or eliminate cluster munition failures, as some 80 percent of U. S. military cluster weapons reside in Army artillery stockpiles. Starting with the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (P. L. 111 8) annual Consolidated Appropriations Act legislation has placed export moratorium language on cluster weapons since then. On 19 May 2011 the Defense Security Cooperation Agency issued a memorandum prohibiting the sale of all but the CBU 97B CBU 105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon because the others have been demonstrated to have a unexploded ordnance rate of greater than 1%. On 30 November 2017, the Pentagon put off indefinitely their planned ban on using cluster bombs after 2018, as they had been unable to produce submunitions with failure rates of 1% or less. Since it is unclear how long it might take to achieve that standard, a months long policy review concluded the deadline should be postponed; deployment of existing cluster weapons is left to commanders' discretion to authorize their use when deemed necessary "until sufficient quantities" of safer versions are developed and fielded.

According to BankTrack, an international network of NGOs specializing in control of financial institutions, many major banks and other financial corporations either directly financed, or provided financial services to companies producing cluster munition in 2005–2012. Among other, BankTrack 2012 report names ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Commerzbank AG, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Industrial Bank of China, ING Group, JPMorgan Chase, Korea Development Bank, Lloyds TSB, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sberbank, Société Générale, UBS, Wells Fargo. Many of these financial companies are connected to such producers of cluster munitions as Alliant Techsystems, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Hanwha, Norinco, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Textron, and others. According to Pax Christi, a Netherlands based NGO, in 2009, around 137 financial institutions financed cluster munition production. Out of 137 institutions, 63 were based in the US, another 18 in the EU (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy etc. ), 16 were based in China, 4 in Singapore, 3 in each of: Canada, Japan, Taiwan, 2 in Switzerland, and 4 other countries had 1 financial institution involved.

Federation of American Scientists article on the CBU97 and CBU105 cluster bombs with smart munitions. Federation of American Scientists article on the BLU 114 anti electrical weapon.