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|May 21, 2023 – The Mk 20 Rockeye II, also known as the CBU-100 Cluster Bomb, is an anti-tank American cluster bomb. It is a non-guided aerial weapon that is released from the aircraft. The Mk 20’s body is constructed from high-quality aluminum and weighs slightly less than 500 pounds. While in mid-air, the container housing the bomblets is opened, causing 247 HEAT submunitions, known as Mk 118, to fall and detonate in the designated target zone. The dispersion of the bomblets on the ground is determined by the altitude at which the container is programmed to unlock.
July 6, 2023 – The Biden administration has decided to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions as part of a new weapons package set to be announced on Friday. Cluster bombs – which were also used in Syria’s civil war – release large numbers of smaller explosives that can kill and maim indiscriminately over a wide area. More than 120 countries have banned the weapons. The group Human Rights Watch says both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the conflict.
July 6, 2023 – Here’s JUST ABOUT (there’s plenty more) everything you need to know about cluster munitions ahead of the US sending them to Ukraine. Cluster munition like DPICM might not be illegal for Ukraine to use, and Russia uses them, too, but they might not be great for Ukraine’s fields after the war.
July 8, 2023 – Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik says Ukraine ‘trusts their allies’ to give them ‘effective munition.’ “We need everything that we can get for this counteroffensive so we can regain as much territory as possible and liberate our people.”
July 9, 2023 – Military analyst Sean Bell discusses the reasons why Ukraine wants to use cluster bombs and the case for and against the controversial weapons. President Joe Biden has confirmed the United States will send cluster bombs to Ukraine despite them being banned by more than 100 countries.
July 9, 2023 – Days after the U.S. said it would be sending controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine to aid in their fight against Russia, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova tells “Face the Nation” that Ukraine will be as “responsible” with these weapons as they are with all other U.S. and European supplied weapons.
July 16, 2023 – While systems like tanks, jets and cruise missiles tend to capture the public imagination, the war in Ukraine in 2023 is largely being fought with much the same tools as it was in 2022 – artillery. The constant exchange of fire has been critical to the battle, enabling attrition, blunting attacks and enabling advances. Both sides have continued to adapt, trying to refine their tactics and capabilities while wearing down their opponent.
But in this attritional struggle, losses and resupply of systems, barrels and ammunition matter, not just tactics. Ukraine now finds itself in an ammunition deficit – trying to attack at a time where its allies have not yet ramped up production enough to readily meet its needs. It’s in that context that the US recently announced the supply of cluster munitions to refill Ukraine’s ammunition bunkers. Today we look at those munitions, their likely impact, as well as the broader course of the artillery war in Ukraine one year on from my original video on the topic “outgunned”
September 1, 2023 – Ukrainian troops gave CBS News a rare look at their use of controversial U.S.-supplied cluster munitions to hold Russian forces at bay. CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta reports from Kharkiv, Ukraine.