The Wall Street Journal writes that cluster munitions from the United States gave impetus to the offensive operation of the Defense Forces.
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These weapons hit a larger area than conventional artillery shells, hitting concentrations of Russian infantry, groups of vehicles and other targets, clearing the way for ground troops to advance.
Western cluster munitions M864 and M483A1, which are in service with Ukrainian artillery, have a submunition. The cassette of the M864 projectile contains 72 combat elements. These are 48 small M42 HEAT rounds and 24 large M46 rounds.
When undermined, elements of both types scatter debris within a radius of several meters.
In turn, the M483A1 has 64 M42 submunitions and 24 M46 submunitions.
Each of the M42/M46 submunitions has a continuous kill zone of 10 square meters. But the detrital effect is effective within a radius of 50 meters from the place where the submunition exploded.
When submunitions disperse in a circle and explode, they create a zone of continuous destruction and a zone of fragmentation. Therefore, the impact zone of a cluster projectile looks like a circle.
At the same time, if a submunition ruptures on armored vehicles, then it is able to neutralize it.
Thus, the detonation of a cluster projectile on the ground covers approximately 900-1000 square meters of a continuous destruction zone with debris (10 squares for 88 ammunition), and a much larger area with a zone of partial (debris) destruction.
Efficiency depends on many factors – the height of the cluster munition detonation, the availability of shelters and personal armor protection equipment for the enemy, and so on. Cluster shells are extremely effective against enemy infantry that do not have defensive structures or are conducting a foot offensive.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.