[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, PREVENTION:

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Treaties Prompt Redesign Of Cluster Bombs

David Hambling
Aviation Week
October 19, 2009

International pressure is driving militaries to adopt alternatives to 
cluster bombs. The weapons are controversial because they leave 
unexploded ordnance (UXO) on a battlefield, where it can injure or kill 
civilians. Treaties may limit their use, and suppliers are looking at 
ways of adapting weapons to new requirements. These could include a 
shift toward unitary warheads, enhanced fuzes and fail-safe measures 
that eliminate UXOs.

The Oslo Treaty, probably the best-known initiative, seeks to prohibit 
the use and production of cluster bombs. The treaty does not concentrate 
on UXOs but specifies weight, banning weapons that distribute 
submunitions of less than 20 kg. (44 lb.). It was adopted by 107 
countries in 2008, and will take effect when 30 ratify it. Seventeen 
have done so. Signatories include France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the 
U.K., but not the U.S., China or Russia.

The U.S. defense community, though, is anticipating a change in the 
weapon. A June 2008 memorandum from Defense Secretary Robert Gates 
affirmed that cluster munitions are "legitimate weapons with clear 
military utility," but set a target for a dud rate of less than 1%. 
Until 2018, use of weapons exceeding this rate must be approved by the 
combatant command. After this date, the dud rate becomes a requirement.



...

For the entire article, see
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/CLUSTER101909.xml&headline=Treaties%20Prompt%20Redesign%20Of%20Cluster%20Bombs

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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