The phrase “Cluster Munition” is something you may or may not have heard before, but either way you may not know much about what it actually means.
What is a Cluster Munition?
It is a form of air dropped or ground launched explosive weapon.
How does it work?
Sometimes called a “Cluster Bomb” it is designed to eject smaller explosive bomblets, known as sub-munitions, onto targets such as troop concentrations, armoured vehicles, runways and even critical infrastructure such as electrical power stations and lines.
Why are they so controversial?
Many people think that the use of Cluster Munitions are too dangerous to use in modern warfare because they release multiple sub-munitions over a wide area and because of their increased footprint they are considered to be indiscriminate weapons which are more likely to cause damage to illegal targets, densely populated areas and civilians.
Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM)
As a result, the Convention of Cluster Munitions was signed in December 2008 which is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer, and stockpile of cluster bombs. The treaty allows certain weapons with “smart” submunitions to be used that do not have the indiscriminate area effects or pose the same unexploded ordnance risks as cluster munitions because they include self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanisms.
Although the use of Cluster Munitions has now been enshrined into International Humanitarian Law they have previously been used in many wars throughout history. These include:
- Vietnam War
- Falklands War
- First Chechen War
- Nagorno Karabakh War
- Afghanistan (2001-2002)
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