- Ukrainian forces have been using controversial US-provided cluster munitions for several weeks.
- These deadly weapons threaten Russian positions and help conserve Kyiv's artillery stockpiles.
It's been several weeks since Ukraine received controversial cluster munitions from the US, and Kyiv's forces have been making good use of the deadly weapon to hammer Russian positions on the battlefield.
The Ukrainian military is making slow and steady advances during its ongoing counteroffensive with the help of the much-sought-after cluster munitions, but they aren't necessarily a game-changing weapon on their own, as they are one part of what goes into broader offensive operations. Still, these munitions have proven to be of tactical and logistical significance to Kyiv, allowing its forces to threaten Russia's formidable defenses and conserve its limited artillery ammunition stockpiles, both of which are particularly critical at this time.
The Biden administration announced in early July its intent to supply Ukraine with 155 mm artillery shells called dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICMs) — commonly known as cluster munitions, and they arrived not long after. Launched from the ground, these shells break apart in mid-air and scatter small explosives called submunitions or bomblets over a large chunk of territory, posing a tremendous threat to any soldier or system below.
Among the weapons Ukraine is employing in its fight against Russia, cluster munitions are probably the most controversial because while they are effective, the dispersed bomblets sometimes fail to detonate and the unexploded ordnance can later harm civilians in much the same way that a landmine might. The use of these weapons is banned by over 100 countries.
Top White House and Pentagon officials defended the decision by asserting that cluster munitions will help Ukraine maintain its current levels of firepower but cut its high rate of ammunition expenditure, preserving both Kyiv and Washington's strained artillery stockpiles. And war experts say that these weapons are proving to be more lethal and efficient than conventional munitions.
Footage of Ukraine using cluster munitions on the battlefield has emerged in recent weeks. Videos from late July shows dozens of bomblets scatter across a large area, targeting infantry in the occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian soldiers have claimed to be using the munitions to strike various Russian targets including both military personnel and vehicles.
Kyiv's military reportedly deployed cluster munitions to aid in recent efforts to liberate territory in the southeast and to bombard retreating Russian soldiers.
So far, cluster munitions have shown to be both tactically and logistically important for Ukraine, George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, told Insider.
From a tactical standpoint, Ukraine can use cluster munitions to hammer Russia's fighting and fortified positions, as the small bomblets can cover lots of ground and threaten any "nooks and crannies," Barros said.
"It's very difficult to evade that form of indirect fire relative to, say, a unitary shell or unitary warhead from traditional artillery," he said. "And it increases Ukraine's lethality, which is an offensive capability they need to be successful."
Cluster munitions also help ease the burden on Ukrainian logistics, he said, as Kyiv's counteroffensive continues to consume artillery at extremely high rates — a costly reality of conventional warfare.
US officials previously suggested that Ukraine's military fires thousands of rounds of artillery a day, straining its stockpiles and those of its Western military backers.
The US is ramping up production of conventional 155 mm artillery shells, a critical weapon for the US, its allies and partners, and Ukraine, but in the meantime, the Biden administration has relied on temporary solutions like cluster munitions to ensure that Kyiv has sufficient ammunition to fight the Russians.
"The Western stockpiles of the conventional, regular artillery are limited," Barros said, and if the Ukrainians run out, it could jeopardize what has already been a challenging offensive.
But by unlocking cluster munitions as an alternative source of artillery ammunition, he said, Kyiv can pull from its stockpiles of other weapons and conserve its artillery shells, "which can hopefully help prevent the Ukrainians from prematurely culminating their counteroffensive effort."
Barros said the overall result of Ukraine receiving cluster munitions is that "lethality has increased on the margins, the Russians' ability to protect themselves and their fighting positions has decreased at the margins, and there's been no significant Russian response."
In other words, there has not been any significant escalation from Moscow in retaliation for Ukraine bringing cluster munitions into the fight, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening a response. Russia insists it does not use cluster munitions, despite documented use of cluster munitions by the Russian military in Ukraine in the past.
But while cluster munitions are operationally effective, they alone won't prove decisive in Ukraine's counteroffensive or the war.
DPICMs make up a very small portion of the more than $43 billion in security assistance that the US has committed to Ukraine since the full-scale war began last year. Experts say that Ukraine's success or failure will ultimately come down to how it integrates all of the military aid that it has received and if the West provides Kyiv's forces with the high-profile weaponry that it still needs — like advanced fighter jets and additional long-range missiles.
"The reality is that there is no silver bullet weapon system. You win wars by increasing your combat power by using these various different systems and how they complement each other in a complex game of rock, paper, scissors," Barros said. "If your adversary is digging in and they have field fortifications and it's harder to be able to lay fire on them with unitary shells, then you have to go to your other tool in your toolbox."