US military indefinitely delays ban on cluster bombs

The Pentagon will indefinitely delay a ban on the use of older types of cluster bombs due to take effect on 1 January 2019, officials say, arguing safety advances in munitions technology had failed to advance enough to replace older stockpiles.

Cluster bombs, dropped by air or fired by artillery, scatter bomblets across a wide area which sometimes fail to explode and are difficult to locate and remove. That can lead to civilian deaths and injuries long after conflicts end.

The US military had hoped to transition to cluster munitions that explode at least 99 per cent of time, greatly reducing the risks.

But with just over one year to go before the ban’s slated implementation, a Pentagon spokesman told Reuters that safety technology had not progressed enough to replace existing stockpiles with safer weaponry.

“Although the Department seeks to field a new generation of more highly reliable munitions, we cannot risk mission failure or accept the potential of increased military and civilian casualties by forfeiting the best available capabilities,” according to a Pentagon memo seen by Reuters.

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Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson said it has been years since the US military has used any significant amount of cluster munitions and, by law, it cannot sell older cluster munitions to partners or allies.

According to Human rights Watch, the Saudi-led coalition has airdropped cluster bombs on residential neighborhoods in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, during its two year campaign against Houthi fighters in the country. It added: “It is not yet clear whether the attacks caused civilian casualties, but the inherently indiscriminate nature of cluster munitions makes such attacks serious violations of the laws of war.”

The new policy does not allow the Pentagon to buy any additional cluster bombs that do not meet new standards, which broaden the definition of which types of munitions meet safety requirements beyond the 99 per cent detonation rate.

Under the new policy, the Pentagon says bombs that have advanced self-destruct or deactivation technology would also be acceptable for future acquisition.

The new policy also outlines possible waivers.

In an urgent, wartime situation, the new policy also envisions the possibility that the deputy defence secretary can waive safety requirements on the use of cluster munitions.