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U.S. Army ammunition specialists are scrambling to develop quick-fix solutions to a fast-approaching Pentagon deadline that will end the use of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines. Defense Department policy mandates that the U.S. military stop using cluster munitions such as the 155mm Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition as well as anti-personnel mines often used to deny enemy forces access and freedom of movement on the battlefield by January 2019, Jim Shields, head of Program Executive Office Ammunition, told an audience Tuesday at the National Defense Industrial Association's 2017 Armaments Systems Forum.
The policy is being driven by the "Ottawa accord even though we have not signed it," Shields said, describing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, typically referred to as the "Ottawa Convention" or "Mine Ban Treaty," according to the Arms Control Association, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. The loss of these munitions creates "capability gaps that we are really concerned about," Shields said. To replace the loss in capability, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn has directed PEO Ammo to move forward on existing technologies until a formal program of record can be developed and fielded, Shields said.
Dozens of 155mm Base Burn Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions rounds wait to be loaded into M109A6 Paladin howitzers, Sept. 20, 2016 at Camp Hovey, South Korea
As an interim, bridging strategy to the loss of cluster munitions, the Army is buying the Swedish BONUS system, which has "two sensor-fused munitions deployed by a 155mm carrier projectile," he said. "They scan the ground for armament targets and fire the [explosively formed penetrator] down through the top of the armored vehicle," Shields said. The Army has tested the system on both the M109 Paladin and M777 155mm artillery systems, he said. The cannon-delivered munition is "in compliance with DoD Cluster Munition Policy to achieve less than 1 percent of unexploded ordinance," according to Shields' briefing slide.
The service is also looking at the existing XM1128 round, which has a range of 30 kilometers, and monitoring ongoing tests Israel is conducting on its new M999 round. Currently, it is unclear whether the Trump administration will decide to direct the military to use cluster munitions in the future, Shields said. "We have initiated de-milling all of our cluster munitions, but we have put a hold on that because we don't know what the current administration's position is with regard to the use of cluster munitions," he said. The plan is to brief Allyn in November on the progress of the program, Shields said.
As far as the loss of antipersonnel mines goes, the Army is working on the Gator LandMine Replacement Program. The Gator mine system provides a means to rapidly emplace minefields deep behind enemy lines using high-speed tactical aircraft. "Obviously, the concern here is you can't indiscriminately attack people who might trip a land mine ... you have to have eyes on or sensors that tell you it's an enemy combatant or a non-combatant," Shields said. The Army has a formal program of record, but "the technology is not mature enough to deliver capability quickly," he said. As an interim solution, the service will replace anti-personnel mines in the delivery system with anti-vehicle mines. "That will get you out of the policy compliance issues and you get essentially close to the same performance that you get [with] the existing Gator ... until the objective system can come along," Shields said.
Army Concerned Over Ban on Cluster Munitions, Land Mines | Military.com
The weapons scatter bomblets across a wide area, some of which fail to explode, posing a threat to civilians. The US military had been hoping to update them with munitions that they say explode at least 99% of the time. But it now admits that safety technology hasn't progressed enough to replace existing stockpiles. "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," said a Pentagon policy memo, seen by Reuters news agency.
Unexploded bomblets from cluster munitions pose a threat to civilians
The memo called cluster munitions "legitimate weapons with clear military utility". The US is not a signatory to a 2010 treaty which bans the use of cluster bombs because of their indiscriminate nature and the risk they pose to civilians both during and after being dropped. The UK, France, Germany and Japan are among 108 states to have signed the treaty. Some members of Congress and rights groups condemned the Pentagon's move. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein called it "unbelievable" and told the Associated Press it was a shame that the US would continue to be a "global outlier".
Human Rights Watch said the US military did not need cluster bombs. It said that the US had not used the munitions since 2003, with the exception of a single strike in Yemen in 2009. The new Pentagon policy restricts the US from buying new cluster munitions that do not meet new standards outlined in its memo. The standards include a method of making bomblets inoperable within 15 minutes of being armed, Reuters reported. Nearly 1,000 people were killed by cluster munitions in 2016, more than double the number recorded the previous year, according to disarmament group Cluster Munition Coalition. Some 860 of those killed were in Syria and 38 in Yemen, it said. Almost all were civilians and most were caught up in cluster munition attacks.
The US has used cluster munitions once since 2003 in Iraq
Cluster bombs explained
* The Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs
* The convention has 108 signatories and became binding international law in 2010
* Cluster bombs pose particular risks to civilians because they release many small bomblets over a wide area
* During attacks, they are prone to indiscriminate effects especially in populated areas
* Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove
US delays ban on 'unsafe' cluster bombs
A heads up this article want's action taken. I thought it was rather interesting because it is highlighting more trustworthy news from the NYT.
Action Alert: NYT Gives a False Pass to US on Cluster Bomb Sales
A heads up this article want's action taken. I thought it was rather interesting because it is highlighting more trustworthy news from the NYT.
Action Alert: NYT Gives a False Pass to US on Cluster Bomb Sales
Why are you posting this "article" that is from 2015?
A heads up this article want's action taken. I thought it was rather interesting because it is highlighting more trustworthy news from the NYT.
Action Alert: NYT Gives a False Pass to US on Cluster Bomb Sales
Why are you posting this "article" that is from 2015?
I posted it in 2015. Waltky comes across newer articles and adds them rather than starting a brand new thread. Sometimes sooner and sometimes later. He fills in gaps and/or updates it. So this thread popped back up.
