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A cluster bomb, or munition, carries a number of individual bomblets, known as submunitions, which are supposed to explode on or near their target. They can be launched by both aircraft and ground forces. A high proportion of cluster bomb submunitions fail to explode on impact and remain dangerous for years. The actual failure rates are a matter of debate. While official military estimates place them at 6% or less, Landmine Action reports that the failure rate of NATO cluster submunitions used in Kosovo in 1999 was between 7 and 11%, and in 1991 up to 40% of cluster submunitions used in Iraq and Kuwait failed to explode.1 The submunitions are colourful and about the size of a soft-drinks can, making them particularly attractive to children.
A long term problem: Unicef has reported that more than a thousand children have been injured by cluster and other unexploded munitions since the end of the 2003 conflict in Iraq.2 In the two years after the 1991 Gulf War, unexploded cluster submunitions killed 1,600 Iraqi civilians and injured 2,500 more. In Kuwait, after the same conflict, there were 1,609 deaths and injuries in the first ten months.3 According to Landmine Action, at least 92 countries are threatened by unexploded cluster bombs or other explosive remnants of war.4
Their use in Iraq: US and UK forces delivered at least 350,000 cluster submunitions during the invasion of Iraq.5
UK: The MoD has acknowledged the use of two types of cluster munition. It stated that, as of May 28th, 66 RBL755 cluster bombs had been dropped on targets in Iraq.6 Each of these bombs contains 147 bomblets, with a government-reported failure rate of 6%.7 Also, the Royal Artillery fired 2,098 L20 Extended Range Cluster Shells around Basra.8 Each L20 shell contains 49 submunitions.9 Estimates by a UK MP indicate that between 2,000 and 17,000 unexploded UK-delivered submunitions remain on the ground in Iraq.10
US: The Pentagon has admitted using nearly 1,500 air-dropped cluster munitions during the Iraq war but has not revealed information about ground-launched weapons.11 The US Air Force dropped 818 CBU-103s Combined Effects Munitions fitted with the Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD)12 and 88 WCMD-equipped BBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons in Iraq.13 Each WCMD is reported to carry 202 BLU/97B submunitions.14 On April 3rd, the US reported that it had used B-52 bombers to drop six CBU-105 cluster munitions on Iraqi tanks around Baghdad.15
On April 1st an undetermined number of BLU-97/B submunitions hit Hilla, with reports claiming that at least 33 civilians were dead and around 300 injured.16
DSEi A number of companies with cluster bomb interests are exhibiting at DSEi 2003, including INSYS, Israeli Military Industries (IMI) and Raytheon. INSYS is contracted by the MoD to support the Royal Air Force's arsenal of RBL755s (INSYS's former incarnation, Hunting Engineering, manufactured the BL755). IMI is reported to be the manufacturer of the L20 Extended Range Cluster Shell used by the Royal Artillery. Raytheon is the prime contractor for the Tomahawk cruise missile and the JSOW AGM-154, both of which deliver BLU/97B submunitions.
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