Ukraine Receives Cluster Munitions From U.S

A Ukrainian spokesperson for the Tavria (southern) military district confirmed on Thursday that the country had received cluster munitions, which were included in a recently announced $800 million military aid package from the United States. The bombs, banned in over 100 countries but not Ukraine, Russia, or the U.S, are claimed by American military officials to have a low dud rate, although one higher is usually allowed for arms export but overridden in this time of war support. They claim the dud rate of the 155m DPICMs, dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, is 2.35%, which they contrasted with the claim that the dud rate of Russian cluster munitions sat at 30–40%. A 2022 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, however, found that despite manufacturers claiming 2-5% failure rates, often in real-world situations it is around 10–30%.