>US President Joe Biden officially approved the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine on Friday.
>
>The Pentagon is now expected to send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth up to €733 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision and US publication, The Washington Post.
>
>The announcement comes despite widespread concerns that the bombs can cause civilian casualties and sparked a call from the United Nations to both Russia and Ukraine to avoid using them. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths.
>
>It is unclear how America’s NATO allies would view the US providing cluster bombs to Ukraine and whether the issue might prove divisive for their largely united support of Kyiv. More than two-thirds of the 30 countries in the alliance are signatories of the 2010 convention on cluster munitions.
>
>Germany made clear on Friday that it won’t be providing any cluster ammunition to Ukraine, as it joined an international treaty prohibiting the weapons more than a decade ago, but it expressed an understanding of the American position.
>
>“We’re certain that our US friends didn’t take the decision about supplying such ammunition lightly,” German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin. “We need to remember once again that Russia has already used cluster ammunition at a large scale in its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine
This is one of those things where you need to hold your nose and look the other way, because Ukraine needs all the help it can get.
On the other hand, I hope Ukraine will join the rest of us in banning these things after the war is over and that Russia can be forced to ban them as well.
As for the US, I hold no hopes they will ever be made to do a thing they don’t want to do, which is unfortunate.
USA! USA! USA!
“Long sought by Ukraine…” is a weird way to start the article. These aren’t HIMARS or Storm Shadows or something else that Ukraine never had before. Didn’t they already have plenty of Uragans?
[deleted]
Modern DPICM rounds have a much lower failure rate than they used to and they also have self destruct fuzes so I frankly wouldn’t be overly concerned about their lasting effects.
The bigger question to me is how many of these things the US even has left. Production mostly slowed or stopped decades ago (and those old shells have a higher failure rate and don’t have the self destruct function) and from the sounds of it most of them have already either been destroyed or converted into unitary warheads. The ones that are left, I’m not sure if they have a 30 year shelf life.
Russia used those since the start of this war. So Ukraine is entirely entitled to do the same.
14 comments
>US President Joe Biden officially approved the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine on Friday.
>
>The Pentagon is now expected to send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth up to €733 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision and US publication, The Washington Post.
>
>The announcement comes despite widespread concerns that the bombs can cause civilian casualties and sparked a call from the United Nations to both Russia and Ukraine to avoid using them. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths.
>
>It is unclear how America’s NATO allies would view the US providing cluster bombs to Ukraine and whether the issue might prove divisive for their largely united support of Kyiv. More than two-thirds of the 30 countries in the alliance are signatories of the 2010 convention on cluster munitions.
>
>Germany made clear on Friday that it won’t be providing any cluster ammunition to Ukraine, as it joined an international treaty prohibiting the weapons more than a decade ago, but it expressed an understanding of the American position.
>
>“We’re certain that our US friends didn’t take the decision about supplying such ammunition lightly,” German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin. “We need to remember once again that Russia has already used cluster ammunition at a large scale in its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine
This is one of those things where you need to hold your nose and look the other way, because Ukraine needs all the help it can get.
On the other hand, I hope Ukraine will join the rest of us in banning these things after the war is over and that Russia can be forced to ban them as well.
As for the US, I hold no hopes they will ever be made to do a thing they don’t want to do, which is unfortunate.
USA! USA! USA!
“Long sought by Ukraine…” is a weird way to start the article. These aren’t HIMARS or Storm Shadows or something else that Ukraine never had before. Didn’t they already have plenty of Uragans?
[deleted]
Modern DPICM rounds have a much lower failure rate than they used to and they also have self destruct fuzes so I frankly wouldn’t be overly concerned about their lasting effects.
The bigger question to me is how many of these things the US even has left. Production mostly slowed or stopped decades ago (and those old shells have a higher failure rate and don’t have the self destruct function) and from the sounds of it most of them have already either been destroyed or converted into unitary warheads. The ones that are left, I’m not sure if they have a 30 year shelf life.
Russia used those since the start of this war. So Ukraine is entirely entitled to do the same.
Based Brandon.
Thank you USA, you are my best friend,
You are the peacekeeper, you are the legend.
[video of the CBU-87 in action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wRQSOxse64)
[another one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1__DS94pz1o)
Nice but hey, isn’t those banned in wars? I know Russia is comitting war crimes on the daily but still
Ukraine is already a massive minefield in the East. It’s a dumb argument to act like the country is not already a disaster for future generations
Chemicals kill anyone. Don’t breathe isn’t nice! Anyway, go tell your master that his soldiers will have a great surprise soon.
Good. Those bombs will save countless Ukrainian lives when it’s time to push into Russian trenches.