US military explains why cluster munitions on Ukraine's front lines do not pose risk to civilians
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The United States of America claims that its cluster munitions have a lower percentage of unexploded submunitions that could pose a threat to civilians.
CNN reports this with reference to an American military official.
As noted in the publication, the American military tested cluster munitions, which the administration of US President Joe Biden plans to send to Ukraine.
They did this to ensure that the ammunition had a "failure rate" of 2.35% or lower.
The official said that the ammunition test was "conducted by means of live firing" and not by means of simulated or virtual tests.
He also added that the cluster munitions the US plans to send, the M864 and M483A1 models, were last tested in 2020 and 2017, respectively.
The official explained that the ammunition was tested in various ways.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to emphasize that the cluster munitions it will provide to Ukraine pose a lower risk to the civilian population than the cluster munitions currently used by Russia.
For reference:
It should be noted that the United States of America allocated a new defense aid package to Ukraine. In particular, the US confirmed the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Later, the Pentagon revealed the details of a new $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine.
The new package of US military aid includes so-called advanced dual-purpose conventional munitions (cluster munitions).
The day before, the representative of the Pentagon, Pat Ryder, said that the cluster munitions would not be transferred from old stocks. And the failure rate should not exceed 2.35%.
In an interview with CNN, the head of the White House, Joe Biden, admitted that Ukraine needs cluster munitions for defense. The decision of the United States of America to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions was "difficult," but Kyiv needed the munitions for a counteroffensive against the Russian Federation.
In turn, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov assured that Ukraine's armed forces would adhere to 5 basic principles when using cluster munitions, which were included in the new package of military aid from the United States of America, including but not limited to strict accounting and more.
In 2008 more than 120 countries adopted a treaty banning cluster munitions' production, use, and stockpiling. The United States, Russia, and Ukraine refused to join it.
