by The United States is leaning towards providing cluster munitions to Ukraine, and the announcement could come as early as next month, two senior US officials have said.
A third US official said the US is considering providing dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICM, to Ukraine, but declined to provide a timeline for an announcement.
DPICMs are surface-to-surface warheads that explode and disperse multiple small munitions or bombs over wide areas, causing more widespread destruction than individual rounds. Projectiles can be shaped charges that penetrate armored vehicles, or they can break or fragment to be more dangerous and deadly to personnel.
Some human rights groups oppose their use due to concerns that unexploded bomblets, or duds, could explode after battle, potentially injuring or killing innocent civilians.
Ukraine has been requesting DPICM from the US since last year, but the idea has met with resistance due to an international treaty that bans the transfer, use and stockpiling of the weapon, called the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The United States, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to the treaty, but more than 100 countries are, including many US allies.
The US developed cluster munitions during the Cold War and then stockpiled large numbers of them, many of which are nearing the end of their useful lives. This week, a bipartisan group of members of Congress sent a letter calling on the Biden administration to release the “great untapped arsenal” in Ukraine.
DPICMs can be fired from artillery systems that the US has already provided to Ukraine.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of the Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Thursday asking Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for details, including DPICM failure rates and variants in the US stockpile that could be shipped to Ukraine.
“As you know, the United States has placed restrictions on the use of cluster munitions as a matter of both law and policy,” Crow wrote. “I think any change in policy requires public discourse and more public information is required to achieve that.”
