Cluster Munition

Cluster munitions are air-dropped bombs or surface-launched rockets that open in flight to release dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions, called bomblets, across a wide area. The original concept was to multiply the effect of a single weapon against dispersed targets such as armored vehicle formations, airfield surfaces, or troop concentrations that a single-point-detonation bomb would miss.

Cluster munitions have been used extensively in conflicts from Vietnam through the Gulf War and more recently in Syria and Ukraine. Their battlefield effectiveness is significant, a single CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition can spread 202 bomblets across an area the size of several football fields, each capable of penetrating light armor, fragmenting against personnel, or creating incendiary effects.

These weapons are highly controversial because of their humanitarian impact. A significant percentage of submunitions fail to detonate on impact, becoming de facto landmines that endanger civilians long after the conflict ends. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, signed by over 100 nations, bans their use, production, and stockpiling, though major military powers including the United States, Russia, and China have not signed the treaty.