Senior administration and defense officials in recent weeks have reached out to Capitol Hill and allies who have long opposed the use of cluster munitions to say they are needed on the battlefield in Ukraine and to offer assurances if how to use it. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer called lawmakers to gauge comfort levels on the issue, according to people familiar with the conversations, though they were told a final decision had not been made.
The United States concluded months ago that cluster weapons could be an effective tool against invading Russian troops and Wagner Group mercenaries, according to an intelligence assessment in January that was one of a trove in leaked classified documents obtained by The Washington Post. The assessment comes amid a brutal months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have found that the Russians tend to mass before an attack, making them vulnerable to cluster munitions, shells containing dozens or even hundreds of small bombs scattered in a place. Weapons “are likely to increase the [Ukrainian military’s] effectiveness against waves of attack because a cluster munition shows the same lethality as 10 155mm artillery rounds against a group of infantry,” said the top secret document, referring to the ammunition used of howitzers provided by the United States to Ukraine and that is now in short supply.
At the time, President Biden was opposed. “According to our own policy, we have concerns about the use of those types of ammunition,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in December in response to questions about Kyiv’s requests for of weapons.
The White House is now reviewing its position, according to several US officials who, like others in this report, spoke on condition of anonymity about the sensitive issue. “We have always said that our security assistance will increase as the battle conditions improve, and that continues,” an official said. “In recent weeks, we have seen a growing demand for cluster munitions … which will help address any ammunition shortages that [Ukraine] can be dealt with.”
Another official said the State Department had long opposed the use of cluster bombs but Secretary of State Antony Blinken withdrew his objections while the Pentagon awaited Biden’s final decision.
The rest of the administration’s concern is focused more on the optics of such a move, particularly among allies, such as the military effectiveness of cluster munitions on the Ukrainian battlefield and the long-term danger they pose to those civilian.
“Our military analysts have confirmed that DPICMs can be particularly useful against Russian dug-in positions,” Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense who focuses on Russia and Ukraine, told lawmakers in a congressional hearing last week. “The reason why you haven’t seen a step forward in providing this capability is related to current congressional restrictions on the provision of DPICMs and concerns about allied integration,” Cooper added.
For many years, Congress has included in its budget the approval of a moratorium on arms exports, although there are provisions allowing the president to waive the ban. President Donald Trump has withdrawn a policy stipulation that says the rate of unexploded bombs, known as duds, cannot exceed 1 percent.
The United States is one of nearly four dozen countries — including several other NATO members as well as Russia, China and Ukraine — that keep stockpiles of cluster munitions and refuse to participate in more than 120 other countries have signed an international ban convention. their use, transfer or production.
The weapons, which can be delivered by artillery, rockets, bombs and missiles, explode in the air at a target, releasing smaller submunitions at hundreds of yards.
Human rights organizations and other governments have criticized their use as inherently inhumane and indiscriminate, documenting the extent of these weapons. have harmed and killed thousands of civilians around the world, mainly because of their tendency to leave duds strewn across the ground. These firing cases can be triggered long after a military conflict.
Civilians were maimed by cluster bomblets in places like Vietnam and Laos decades after they were dropped, underscoring their lasting damage. Critics say their use of this conflict makes it likely the last Ukrainian to die from a bomb launched in this war was not yet born.
“They are indiscriminate, and they harm civilians,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director of Human Rights Watch. “We are also talking about the violation of a global norm against the use of cluster munitions, at least for countries that believe in humanity even in times of war.”
According to the nonprofit Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, the United States has used these weapons in several past conflicts, including Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, and Iraq in 2003. Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions provided by US in Yemen in 2009, the group said.
Ukrainian troops may also risk their own use of weapons. The widespread use of cluster bombs by the United States during the Persian Gulf War sometimes halted combat operations “because units feared encountering unexploded ordnance,” according to a report in 1993 Government Accountability Office detailing how American troops were killed by dud munitions during and after the war.
“These duds are dangerous because they are easily triggered, making them a threat to anyone who enters an area where they are fired,” said Brian Castner, a senior crisis adviser at Amnesty International and a you are a former Air Force bomb technician. “It’s like spreading random booby traps all over the battlefield.”
The Defense Department has not confirmed whether the United States is still producing cluster munitions and it is unclear what remains available. its arsenal to provide Ukraine. Many have been decommissioned and converted to other uses, such as training rounds, said Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
US officials say Moscow and, to a lesser extent, Kyiv have been using cluster munitions in Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin invaded Russia. They argue that American-made cluster munitions have a lower failure rate than those made by other countries. But estimates for the dud rate of DPICMs vary widely; the Department of Defense once estimated a 14 percent dud rate for some US cluster munitions. Critics say the Pentagon has not provided reliable updated data.
“Unfortunately, there are many areas in Ukraine that are heavily mined or have unexploded ordnance,” a US official said, adding that the United States would continue to provide assistance in removing them “even if we ourselves provides cluster munitions. .”
As the administration makes its case, and as the war enters its second year, many U.S. allies are willing to simply issue objections, though Spain and Germany are said to be more adamant. opposed, according to European officials and others familiar with the. their reactions to the lobbying effort.
In Washington, many Republican lawmakers have long advocated for the switch, and the use of cluster munitions has increased bipartisan support.
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was open to discussing the issue, telling the Council on Foreign Relations last month that although he was not “in favor of the proliferation of cluster munitions. around the world … if those weapons help, I think it’s something we should consider.
But Rep. Jason Crow (D-Col.), an Army veteran, expressed concern about the administration’s policy shift without further consultation.
“Giving cluster munitions is a change from a long-standing policy that has consequences on current and future battlefields. I don’t take that lightly. That’s why I’m trying to get more information to find out exactly what that is,” said Crow, who was briefed by the Pentagon last week and sent a letter Thursday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking for data on the rate of DPICM duds.
Cluster munitions are just one of several weapons urgently requested by Ukraine as its forces struggle to break through Russia’s formidable, multilayered defenses in a counteroffensive launched a few weeks ago. Concerns expressed by US officials about the slow start of operations in Ukraine have increased today as gains on the battlefield have stalled.
In an interview this week with The Post, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military officer, expressed disappointment at the pace of arms deliveries from donors and the growing concern expressed by Western supporters. “[W]without complete equipment, these plans will never be possible,” said Zaluzhny.
US officials this week said they do not expect any future decision to provide the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which have a range of nearly 200 miles – four times the range of US munitions. which is given today – in Ukraine. In addition to concerns about Kyiv’s use of missiles in a possible firing across the Russian border, the Pentagon has limited supplies and worries about US preparedness.
But the biggest concern is the depletion of US and allied stocks of ammunition for heavy-duty howitzers and other precision artillery delivered last summer. Donor countries recognize that they cannot produce enough to meet Ukraine’s high demand rate in the face of Russia’s deeper stockpiles.
John Hudson, Dan Lamothe and Abigail Hauslohner contributed to this report.
