Cluster munition

A weapon that releases multiple smaller explosive submunitions over an area. Unexploded submunitions can remain dangerous long after a conflict, especially to civilians.

Submunition: A smaller munition released by a larger weapon, often designed to explode on impact. Each cluster munition disperses multiple submunitions across a target area.
Explosive remnants of war: Unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance that remain after armed conflict. Cluster munition remnants can contaminate land long after fighting ends.
Second World War: A global war fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Axis powers and the Allies. Air-dropped cluster weapons were used during the war, including against German cities.
Precision-guided munition: A munition guided toward a selected target using a guidance system. Precision weapons are often proposed as alternatives to wide-area cluster attacks.
Fuze: A device that initiates a munition’s explosive train under specified conditions. Fuze design affects whether submunitions detonate on impact or remain hazardous.
Landmine: An explosive device designed to detonate when a person or vehicle approaches, contacts, or disturbs it. Both can endanger civilians after conflict, but cluster submunitions are dispersed from a carrier.
Cold War: The geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies, chiefly from 1947 to 1991. Cluster munitions spread widely through Cold War-era arsenals and conflicts.
Area denial weapon: A weapon intended to prevent or restrict movement through a particular area. Cluster munitions can impede movement by scattering explosive hazards across terrain.
Dud rate: The proportion of munitions that fail to function as intended. A higher dud rate leaves more unexploded submunitions after an attack.
Humanitarian demining: Surveying and clearing explosive hazards to make land safe for civilian use. Clearance teams must locate and remove unexploded cluster submunitions.

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