After opening up to the use of Atacms missiles, a system capable of striking 300 kilometers away, the US could also supply Ukraine with the dreaded and effective cluster bombs that the Russians are already using. This was stated by the US Army Chief of Staff, Mark Milley. Milley noted that Russian troops were using them on the battlefield in Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces had received cluster bombs from other allies and used the weapons. Milley said in a speech to the National Press Club that discussions are ongoing. “The Ukrainians asked for it, other European countries provided it, the Russians use it,” Milley said. “There is an ongoing decision-making process.” He also dismissed concerns that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was progressing too slowly. Milley said he expects the first campaign to last between six and 10 weeks. “It will be very difficult. It’s going to take a long time,” Milley said. “Nobody should have any illusions about this.”
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Cluster bombs are weapons that open in mid-air, releasing submunitions or “bomblets” that are spread over a large area and designed to destroy multiple targets at once. Bombs can be dropped from planes, artillery and rockets. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, bomblets have a high failure rate, up to 40% in some recent conflicts. Proponents of a ban on cluster bombs say they continue to indiscriminately kill and endanger civilians long after they have been used. The groups have sounded the alarm about the use of Russian ammunition in Ukraine.
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It’s unclear how America’s NATO allies would view the US supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine, and whether the matter could prove contentious for their largely unified support for Kiev. More than two-thirds of the 30 countries in the alliance are signatories to a 2010 convention on cluster munitions that bans their use, production or stockpiling. The US, Russia and Ukraine are not signatories to the cluster bomb ban.