Air Force Replaces Cluster Bombs With Something Slightly Less Likely to Kill Civilians

a GBU-38 JDAM explodes in Iraq

Oct 13, 2014 by James Drew - war-is-boring

New munitions rain down iron fragments

The U.S. Air Force is developing a terrifying new weapon to replace cluster bombs. Instead of scattering thousands of tiny bomblets over a target, the service plans to rain down iron fragments … to essentially achieve the same effect. During the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the United States and coalition forces dropped thousands of cluster bombs on targets including missile and radar sites, Iraqi aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery batteries and troops. While effective, the cluster bombs often left behind thousands unexploded bomblets that killed many civilians. Responding to international pressure, in 2008 then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the services to phase out the procurement of cluster bombs—and stop using them completely after 2018.

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