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What is a cluster bomb?
Cluster bombs have anti-personnel fragmentation features which can send hundreds of shards of steel at ballistic speeds over a wide area, or shaped charges which can penetrate heavy armor. Many of the cluster bomb canisters carry hundreds of bomblets. A drop of several canisters can easily create kill zones of a square kilometer or greater in size. A working definition of cluster weapons could be as follows: Cluster warheads or other devices with many bomblets which act through the ejection of a great number of small-calibred fragments or pellets, including combined effects and dual purpose munitions. Federation of American Scientists: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/bombs.htm: general description of bomb technology Federation of American Scientists: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/cluster.htm: general description of cluster bomb technology (includes diagrams & photos) Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/hrw/reports/1999/nato2/nato995-02.htm: general description of cluster bomb technology
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© 2003 Mennonite Central Committee
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A
cluster bomb is a small explosive submunition or bomblet that is delivered
to its target in a large canister or shell. Cluster bombs can be delivered
by air-launched systems (as bombs from aircraft), by ground-based artillery
systems, by multiple launch rocket systems, or missile based systems (such
as cruise missiles).
What
is the problem with cluster bombs?