[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire.]
By Brent Cagen
Real Clear Wire
The war in Ukraine has drained the Western arsenals of cheaper precision guided munitions such as Switchblade drones and Excalibur shells. However, with Ukrainian offensive operations expected to begin in the next few months, Western governments must consider other options to arm Ukraine. Cluster munitions are essential to offsetting the Russian military’s numerical advantages and for the Ukrainian military to sustain effective offensive actions.
Cluster munitions are effective because of their ability to be dispersed over a wide area. Rather than one unitary explosive, cluster munitions consist of a dispenser and a number of smaller submunitions contained within. When the unit is deployed, it releases these submunitions at a preset altitude. Though each individual submunition is small in terms of explosive power, the sheer number of them per dispenser means that an aircraft equipped with cluster munitions can saturate a relatively large area in a short period of time. Such an operation requires comparatively less resources than having multiple aircraft sweep an area with significantly less numerous but individually more powerful unitary munitions; moreover, only one aircraft needs to be risked to achieve a significantly greater effect by comparison.
Though submunitions are not terribly effective against tanks, they are extremely dangerous to infantry, infantry fighting vehicles, and supplies in the open. Individual bomblets are more than capable of severely wounding and or outright killing personnel; those produced by the United States also function as shaped charges, meaning that the explosion of the bomblet produces a jet of hot liquid metal capable of penetrating the roofs of vehicles. Cluster munitions also serve as a potent area denial system. Some cluster munitions have time-delay fuses long enough to blanket an area for hours, exploding only after an enemy has re-occupied a position. Otherwise, simple dud fuses can have the same effect, killing unsuspecting adversaries hours or days after a bombardment.
The indiscriminate nature of the weapon has led to criticisms by several international organizations and governments because of its potential to kill or injure civilians long after a war has ended. This aspect of cluster munitions, however, should not preclude their delivery to Ukraine. It is most certainly the case that after the war concludes, Ukraine will need to embark on an extensive cleanup operation of its territory to remove the enormous amount of unexploded ordnance left behind by the fighting. Whether cluster munitions are delivered will not change this reality; a Russian victory in Ukraine would harm the Ukrainian people far more in the long term than longer-lasting demining operation.
Historically speaking, cluster munitions were delivered via aircraft, artillery, and missiles. The most prominent artillery shell was the M864 155mm artillery shell designed for use with NATO compatible towed guns such as the M198, M777, and FH-70 as well as self-propelled howitzers like the Pzh 2000, the Archer system, and the M109. Cluster munitions were also fitted to missile and rocket artillery, with the most notable being the M270 MLRS in use by several NATO countries and the HIMARS; both these and the other gun systems are in use currently by Ukraine.
The United States developed its current arsenal of cluster munitions to offset the difference in numbers between the Soviet and NATO armies. The key air dropped variants include the CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition, CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Munition, and the guided version of the CBU-97 known as the CBU-105. While the CBU-87 is a “dumb” type cluster bomb, the CBU-97/105 series utilized a unique submunition which acts like a shaped charge; each CBU-97 dispenses hockey puck-shaped bomblets that search for a heat source on the ground and detonate above them, forming an explosively-formed penetrator (EFP) that can punch through light armor including the engine decks of tanks.
Currently, Ukraine is requesting the Mk20/CBU-100 Rockeye cluster munition for drone deployment. Although the Obama administration sought to destroy stockpiles, the US retains millions of these units, having seldom expended them since the Cold War. Four Republican senators sent a letter to the White House urging President Biden to authorize the delivery of this weapon system. This munition would allow Ukrainian forces to effectively launch offensives against numerically superior Russian formations not only due to its intrinsic properties but also due to the kinds of tactics and systems currently used by the Russians. The Russian army, having lost enormous quantities of its most modern main battle tanks in the last year of fighting, is now relying on older models such as the T-62. The T-62 is not as well armored as its successors, meaning that the Rockeye’s submunitions would be more likely to disable it than later T-series tanks.
A mix of precision guided, and cluster munitions is necessary for the UAF’s eviction of the Russian military from Ukrainian territory. At present, airframe attrition severely hampers the Ukrainian air force’s offensive capabilities. Equipping its planes with cluster munitions would greatly increase the flexibility of Ukraine’s aircraft to effectively engage along the line of contact by amplifying the destructive power of each strike.
The naturally limited stockpile of PGMs point towards cluster munitions as an alternative. While precision guided munitions are necessary to destroy individual positions and systems, the number of targets will always outstrip the number of PGMs available at any given time. Cluster munitions, while lacking the individual accuracy of guided bombs, make up for their apparent “dumb” nature by their ability to cover large areas. Use of cluster munitions will take pressure off the precious stockpiles of PGMs without compromising the Ukrainian air force’s ability to successfully engage and destroy ground targets.
Moreover, fewer cluster munitions can destroy more dispersed targets like vehicle assembly and repair nodes. By alleviating the constant demand for PGMs, giving the Ukrainian military cluster munitions will allow PGMs to be saved for use in areas where cluster bombs are less effective or cannot be utilized such as urban centers. Outside of these no-use zones, cluster munitions can effectively destroy large volumes of Russian men and material; during advances by Ukrainian troops, Russian positions can be saturated with a relatively small number of aircraft. This will serve to soften up all but the most well-fortified defenses and severely damage fragile equipment such as radars and electronic monitoring systems. Russian forces demoralized by the speed and effectiveness of cluster munitions would be significantly less potent in resisting a subsequent Ukrainian assault.
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The United States arsenal of cluster units is enormous; in 2017, the number was logged at 3.7 million dispensers. By comparison, the United States military has over the last decade suffered from notable shortages of other conventional munitions, and the aid to Ukraine has only served to drain the stocks of both the United States and Europe further. The delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine will allow the Ukrainian military to pursue offensive operations while alleviating the strain on Western munition reserves. Indeed, the Ukrainians are fighting in a situation reminiscent of the kind of ground war thought about by US planners during the Cold War, one where numerically inferior NATO forces would have to fend off massed Soviet assaults. The cluster bombs of the United States designed for such a scenario will be a key component of Ukraine’s ability to fend off the successor of NATO’s Soviet foe.
Brent Cagen holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Cornell University. He is proficient in Russian and specializes in advanced defense technology and is currently a research assistant at Yorktown Institute.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.
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