This week, the Pentagon has decided to stop the program aiming at abandoning the use of cluster munitions. A cluster bomb is an air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. One of their main disadvantages is that not all of the submunitions detonate after reaching the ground.
Cluster munitions are described as deadly to civilians because of the vast areas of destruction.
Photo: Part of the US MGR-1 rocket, filled with containers with sarin.
Photo: Part of the US MGR-1 rocket, filled with containers with sarin.
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© AP Photo / Yonhap
Such weapons in different modifications are in the military arsenals of several countries and have proved themselves as inexpensive and extremely effective.
Photo: Ground crew members of the South Korean Air Force prepare to load CBU-58B cluster bombs for an F-4E jetfighter during a joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea at Suwon air base, south of Seoul, August 19, 1997.
Photo: Ground crew members of the South Korean Air Force prepare to load CBU-58B cluster bombs for an F-4E jetfighter during a joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea at Suwon air base, south of Seoul, August 19, 1997.
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© AP Photo / Mohammed Zaatari
Their long-standing "ancestors" – explosive shrapnel shells stuffed with lead bullets – were created in the beginning of the XIX century.
Photo: This November 9, 2006 file picture, a Cluster Bomb Unit containing more than 600 cluster bombs, which was dropped by Israeli warplanes during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israeli war, sits in a field in the southern village of Ouazaiyeh, Lebanon.
Photo: This November 9, 2006 file picture, a Cluster Bomb Unit containing more than 600 cluster bombs, which was dropped by Israeli warplanes during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israeli war, sits in a field in the southern village of Ouazaiyeh, Lebanon.
Such weapons allow a lot of tasks to be solved, including remote mining, as well as fighting against armored vehicles and enemy soldiers.
Photo: General director Obukhov of the Bazalt state research and production enterprise explaining the design and operation of a cluster bomb.
Photo: General director Obukhov of the Bazalt state research and production enterprise explaining the design and operation of a cluster bomb.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions obliges all countries to destroy their "cassettes" stocks within eight years of joining the treaty.
Photo: The destruction of cassette ammunition at a plant in Germany.
Photo: The destruction of cassette ammunition at a plant in Germany.
Along with other major cluster weapon manufacturers and users (China, India, Brazil, Pakistan, Israel), the United States refused to sign the Convention, but the Pentagon practically banned the use of similar munitions in 2008.
Photo: US cluster bombs in Libya after the bombardment by US aviation.
Photo: US cluster bombs in Libya after the bombardment by US aviation.
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© AP Photo / Zachary T. C. Hada/U.S. Air Force
It was extremely unprofitable to bomb the so-called "jihadmobile," which utilize cheap pickups and expensive weapons.
Photo: This July 24, 2012, photo provided by the US Air Force shows a B-1 bomber rumbling down the flightline at Ellsworth Air Force Base as part of a training mission.
Photo: This July 24, 2012, photo provided by the US Air Force shows a B-1 bomber rumbling down the flightline at Ellsworth Air Force Base as part of a training mission.
Russia also did not join the convention. Cassette ammunition can be used by most of the rocket fire systems in the Russian Army, including the "Tochka-U" and "Iskander” tactical missile systems.
Photo: Live firing of Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems at a shooting range during pilot combat exercises.
Photo: Live firing of Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems at a shooting range during pilot combat exercises.
