DOD to retain stockpiles of 'relatively safe' cluster munitions

By Justin Doubleday / December 1, 2017 at 12:31 PM

The Pentagon has determined the U.S. military will keep its stockpiles of cluster munitions beyond an impending deadline to divest of such weaponry, citing how removal of the munitions would create "a critical capability gap for our forces."

In a Nov. 30 statement, Defense Department spokesman Tom Crosson said DOD believes cluster munitions "remain a vital military capability in the tougher warfighting environment ahead of us, while still a relatively safe one." As a result, the Pentagon will indefinitely delay a policy banning the use of cluster munitions due to take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, according to a Nov. 30 memo signed out by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. The development was first reported by Reuters.

"This was a hard choice, not one the department made lightly," Crosson said. "But ultimately, it was clear to DOD's senior leadership that removing use of current stocks would have created a critical capability gap for our forces, risking much greater military and civilian casualties in a conflict, and weakening our ability to deter potential adversaries."

In 2008, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed a policy requiring DOD rid its inventory of bombs that result in more than 1 percent unexploded ordnance after 2018. Both the Army and the Air Force have been developing new bombs to comply with Gates' 2008 directive.

The new policy allows DOD to procure cluster munitions that do not result in more than 1 percent unexploded ordnance or "that possess advanced features to minimize the risks posed by unexploded submunitions," according to Shanahan's memo. He directs the military departments to continue developing capabilities to replace cluster munitions that do not meet the requirements.

However, operational planners should continue designing planning efforts for the availability of all types of cluster munitions, Shanahan's memo states. Combatant commanders can approve the use of cluster munitions that do not meet the requirements for procuring new bombs. The departments and combatant commands must ensure the "operational quality and reliability of cluster munitions," the memo states, but combatant commanders can use bombs that don't meet those standards "in extremis, to meet immediate warfighting demand," it adds.

There is no new deadline for replacing the more dangerous cluster munitions.

"Cluster munitions that do not meet the standards prescribed by this policy for procuring new cluster munitions will be removed from active inventories and demilitarized after their capabilities have been replaced by sufficient quantities of munitions that meet the standards in this policy," the memo states.

The United States never joined the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, "which prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions," according to the convention's official website.

"Cluster munitions are unacceptable for two reasons," the website states. "Firstly, they have wide area effects and are unable to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Secondly, the use of cluster munitions leave behind large numbers of dangerous unexploded ordnance. Such remnants kill and injure civilians, obstruct economic and social development, and have other severe consequences that persist for years and decades after use."

While 119 countries have committed to the goals of the convention, the United States, Russia, China, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and India are among the states who are not parties or signatories to the convention.

The U.S. State Department argues cluster munitions can be safer than other bombs.

"Cluster munitions have demonstrated military utility," its website states. "Their elimination from U.S. stockpiles would put the lives of its soldiers and those of its coalition partners at risk. Moreover, cluster munitions can often result in much less collateral damage than unitary weapons, such as a larger bomb or larger artillery shell would cause, if used for the same mission."

191927