Posted on 07/08/2023 2:36:00 PM PDT by McGruff
When the White House announced on Friday that it would agree to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, it came after assurances from Pentagon officials that the weapons had been improved to minimize the danger to civilians.
The Pentagon said the weapons they would send to Ukraine had a failure rate of 2.35 percent or less, far better than the usual rate that is common for cluster weapons.
But the Pentagon’s own statements indicate that the cluster munitions in question contain older grenades known to have a failure rate of 14 percent or more.
Pentagon officials have said the shells they will send to Ukraine are an improved version of a type used in 1991’s Operation Desert Storm. But the reality is slightly more complicated. The shells being sent to Kyiv can fly farther than the earlier versions, but they contain the same grenades, which had dud rates the Pentagon has characterized as unacceptably high.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Cluster weapons sent by a Cluster…. Biden
old inventory
Is that why we shouldn’t? Think of the future when they go off.
But let’s keep that a secret from the enemies of the US. They think we are strong military force with weapons and bombs that work. Even in a military run by the Democrats under the valiant Commander in Chief Biden.
Shhhhhhhhh.
The Pentagon is assuring the public that the cluster bombs are new and improved ... if dropped in civilian areas, the clusters will automatically migrate to military areas. Lloyd Austin says trust him.
Cluster weapons have been used in the Ukraine before.
Zelensky went to Turkey and freed all AZOV held there so all grain export agreements Ukraine has with Russia are now moot lol
Future enemies of America in the making.
The truth is these weapons don’t ‘fail’ to detonate. They’re intentionally designed so a percentage of them delay detonation. This serves to kill rescue units and reinforcements. This also makes them useful for area deniability.
That’s exactly right.
“Cluster Weapons U.S. Is Sending Ukraine”
From what Biden said, we’re pretty much of everything else they can use (short of fighters and nukes).
They’re still killing and maiming children in Laos, fifth years after the bombing runs stopped.
Make ‘em look like baseballs, or oranges.
We’ll have to contribute billions of dollars to submunition clean up. More money laundering.
The M42 ( bomblet) even in its improved design, still fails to detonate about 30 per of the time, it has to due with its ribbon…..notorious for exploding when disturbed ( or picked up) by kids, tractors, YEARS later.
Just ask any UXO tech.
Yes Johnny, your President is guilty of serious war crimes. Matters not what other countries do, but WE are now knowingly seeding Ukraine with a decade of mangled children, farmers, civilians.
The proxy war provides the justification for churning what’s otherwise rusting away in warehouses. There should be a revivification process that doesn’t necessitate war.
Not sure I addressed your question/comment, but that’s my expanded view on “old inventory”
...and if OUR old inventory of cluster munitions is bad, I can only imagine how bad the Soviet-era inventory that the Russkies has is.
Maybe the "best and the brightest" in Biden's CIA and State Department want to make Ukraine unfarmable and uninhabitable for the next few centuries.
I’ll post an article from 2016 (NYT) about Laos and exactly what you described. I’ll find it and post it later.
First, Russia has been using cluster munitions indiscriminately since the start of this war in order to attack Ukraine. By contrast, Ukraine is seeking DPICM rounds in order to defend its own sovereign territory.Second, compared to Russian cluster munitions, the DPICM rounds we will provide Ukraine have an extremely low failure, or dud rate. The DPICM ammunition we are delivering to Ukraine will consist only of those with a dud rate less than 2.35 percent. Compare that to Russia, which has been using cluster munitions across Ukraine with dud rates of between 30 and 40 percent. During the first year of the conflict alone, Russia fired cluster munitions deployed from a range of weapon systems have likely expended tens of millions of submunitions, or bomblets, across Ukraine.
Third, we're working with Ukraine to minimize the risks associated with the decision. The Ukrainian government has offered us assurances in writing on the responsible use of DPICMs, including that they will not use the rounds in civilian-populated urban environments and that they will record where they use these rounds, which will simplify later demining efforts. Ukraine also has committed to post-conflict demining efforts to mitigate any potential harm to civilians. The United States has already invested more than $95 million in Ukraine's demining activities, and we will provide more support to help Ukraine mitigate the impacts of cluster munition use by both sides in this conflict.
Cleaning up the tens of millions of bomblets spread across Ukraine by the Russians will be much easier once they are defeated.
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