Mistake or game changer? Joe Biden will send cluster munitions to Ukraine

In a somewhat surprising move, the Biden administration confirmed it would be providing cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of an upcoming military package.

According to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, these highly controversial weapons will be encased in 155mm artillery shells and accompany a staggering $800 million in additional weaponry in the latest aid package intended to support Kyiv’s counter-offensive.

Human rights groups have condemned this decision, as cluster munitions could result in higher civilian death rates. In fact, more than 120 countries have signed a convention banning these types of munitions, making the White House’s decision a contentious one.

Senior Pentagon and White House officials acknowledged that cluster bombs could be risky, however, the backing of Ukraine’s defensive efforts outweigh the risks. As explained by Sullivan, the Biden team “deferred the decision for as long as we could. But there is also a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery. That is intolerable to us.”

What are cluster bombs?

A cluster munition is a type of ground-launched or air-dropped explosive weapon that carries hundreds of smaller submunitions (or bomblets). Depending on the area of the intended target, the submunitions are dropped from a prescribed height once the canisters break open. Since these types of bombs release smaller bombs in a wider area, they pose a higher risk to civilians during an attack and in the aftermath. In a way, these cluster bombs are similar to the minefields that currently cover large swaths of territory in Ukraine. Both unexploded mines and cluster bomblets are dangerous since they could injure or kill at unexpected times. The weapons pack such submunitions into bombs, missiles, artillery shells and other weapons, making them a versatile and lethal addition.

According to Sullivan, the cluster munitions that will be provided to Ukraine will have a dud rate of less than 2.5%. The dud rate refers to the failure rate, or length of time some unexploded bomblets could take before detonating months or perhaps years later. U.S. officials believe that the cluster bombs used by Russian forces have a much higher dud rate between 30-40%. Although a congressional mandate passed in 2017 prohibits the transfer of cluster bombs with dud rates over 1%, President Biden has the ability to bypass this law. The Biden administration can use the Foreign Assistance Act, which gives officials the ability to allow combatant commanders to use weapons with higher dud rates “in extreme situations to meet immediate warfighting demands.” Clearly, the Biden team believes the current situation in Ukraine qualifies.

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