A dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead designed to burst into submunitions at an optimum altitude and distance from the desired target for dense area coverage. The submunitions use both shaped charges for the anti-armor role, and fragmentation for the antipersonnel role, hence the nomenclature "dual-purpose". Some submunitions may be designed for delayed reaction or mobility denial (mines). The air-to-surface variety of this kind of munition is better known as a cluster bomb. They are banned by more than 100 countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Conventional | 105 mm | 155 mm | 203 mm |
---|---|---|---|
Rounds expended | 7079 | 3465 | 149 |
Rounds / kill | 31.6 | 13.6 | 16.6 |
ICM | 105 mm | 155 mm | 203 mm |
Rounds expended | 1121 | 772 | 153 |
Rounds / kill | 2 | 1.7 | 0.8 |
Development work for DPICM projectiles began in the late 1950s. The first projectile, the 105 mm M444 entered service in 1961. Its submunitions were simple bounding anti-personnel grenades (ICM). Production of the M444 ended in the early 1990s.
The first true DPICM was the 155 mm M483, produced in the 1970s. By 1975, an improved version, the M483A1, was being used. The projectile carried 88 M42/M46 grenade-like dual purpose submunitions. The 155 mm M864 projectile entered production in 1987, and featured a base bleed that enhances the range of the projectile, although it still carries the same M42/M46 grenades.
The base bleed mechanism reduces the submunition count to 72. Work was budgeted in 2003 to retrofit the M42/M46 grenades with self-destruct fuses to reduce the problem of "dud" submunitions that do not initially explode, but may explode later upon handling.
Work on 105 mm projectiles started in the late 1990s based around the M80 submunition. The eventual results were two shells, the M915 intended for use with the M119A1 light towed howitzer, and the M916 developed for the M101/M102 howitzers.
Projectile | M509A1 | M483A1 | M864 | M915 | M916 | M444 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caliber mm | 203 | 155 | 155 | 105 | 105 | 105 |
Service date | ? | 1975 | 1987 | 1998 (?) | 1998 | 1961 (production ended early 1990s) |
Range km | 5.4–23.4 | ?–17 | ?–30 | 10–14 | 3–11 | ?–11.5 |
Load | 180 × M42 | 64 × M42 24 × M46 | 48 × M42 24 × M46 | 42 × M80 | 42 × M80 | 18 × M39 (M444E1 used M36) |
Weight projectile (fuzed) kg | 94 (approx) | 46.5 | 47 (approx) | ? | ? | 14.97 |
Length (fuzed) mm | 1115 | 937 | 899 | ? | ? | 371.9 |
DPICMs were developed for several reasons:
Large quantities of munitions bought during the Cold War were put into war reserve stockpiles. As of 2014, many were reaching the end of their useful life and required disposal, an expensive process. The warheads, which are now old and less stable, must be extracted. The shells are being refilled with explosives, recycling them for use as inexpensive training ammunition. [3] One such round is the M1122, built from recycled shell casings from DPICM rounds that have some explosive filling replaced with concrete. As a training round, the M1122 has one-seventh the explosive impact at one-third the cost of a standard M795 high-explosive shell. [4]
The U.S. Army is seeking a replacement of DPICMs from the Alternative Warhead Program (AWP). The AWP warheads have an equal or greater effect against materiel and personnel targets, while leaving no unexploded ordnance behind. The program is being developed by Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems. [5] The first AW rockets were ordered in September 2015. [6]
On July 7, 2023, the US announced that it would supply DPICM munitions to Ukraine. [7] The weapon system could be used in both HIMARS and 155 mm shell projectiles. [8] [9]
President Biden justified the move by saying "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition”. Colin H. Kahl, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, told reporters that DPICMs were needed by Ukraine. Russian defences are making Ukraine’s offensive “hard sledding, because the Russians had six months to dig in.” Their usage also takes pressure off of US stockpiles of 155 mm unitary high explosive rounds, such as those by HIMARS and the M982 Excalibur, allowing domestic production of these rounds to catch up to demand. Kahl also claimed that DPICMs can “scatter over a wide[r] area” than standard rounds, including Russian defences such as trenches. An unnamed Pentagon official put the figure of these rounds at “hundreds of thousands”. The expected fail rate is less than 2.35%. Kahl claimed that Russian cluster munitions have a fail rate of 30-40%. Ukraine has had to enter into guarantees not to use them in civilian areas and to mark areas where they have been used. [10] [11]
On 10 July, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) published an article supporting the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine, arguing that a United States Army study of the Vietnam War had found that while it took approximately 13.6 high explosive shells for each enemy soldier killed. [12] A shell firing DPICMs relied on average only 1.7 shells to kill an enemy soldier making it eight times as effective in producing casualties as standard high explosive projectiles. RUSI used an example of a trench, a direct hit by a high explosive round will spread shrapnel "within line of sight of the point of detonation". This also reduces the wear and tear on the barrels of 155 mm artillery weapons systems. [13]
On 12 July, Ukrainian Army Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Tavriia military sector deployed in the southern front, told CNN that they had received the cluster munitions pledged by the United States in 7 July. [14]
During the course of the Russo-Ukrainian War, objections have been raised by some NATO members which had signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom. However neither Ukraine nor the United States have signed the agreement. Several other NATO member states, including Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Turkey, are also not signatories of this agreement, nor is Russia. Human Rights Watch has reported that at least 10 types of cluster munitions are already being used on the battlefield, including munitions which were left over from USSR weapons stockpiles, and including the use of cluster munitions by Russia since 2014. [15] It is reported, [16] though officially denied, that Turkey has provided other types of cluster munitions to Ukraine in the past. [17] [18]
On 14 August, Ukrainian forces released drone footage from Urozhaine, in Donetsk Oblast. The two videos appear to show the remaining Russian forces in the town retreating under fire, as the Ukrainians deploy DPICMs in their path. Forbes writer David Axe has described the resulting scene as "murder" and a "bloodbath", given that Ukrainian artillery spotters were afforded an unobstructed view of the Russian retreat in the clear light of day, and the retreating Russian infantrymen were completely unsupported by tanks or other vehicles. Regarding this lack of support and the outcome of the poorly-executed Russian retreat, Axe cites Russian military bloggers who blame the carnage on “the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade for failing to send tanks to support the infantry”, as well as “brigade troopers [who] were drunk”. [19]
The M198 is a medium-sized, towed 155 mm artillery piece, developed for service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. It was commissioned to be a replacement for the World War II-era M114 155 mm howitzer. It was designed and prototyped at the Rock Island Arsenal in 1969 with firing tests beginning in 1970 and went into full production there in 1978. It entered service in 1979 and since then 1,600 units have been produced.
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines.
A flechette is a pointed, fin-stabilized steel projectile. The name comes from French fléchette, meaning "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette. They have been used as ballistic weapons since World War I. Delivery systems and methods of launching flechettes vary, from a single shot, to thousands in a single explosive round. The use of flechettes as antipersonnel weapons has been controversial.
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity shaped charge jet; this is capable of penetrating armor steel to a depth of seven or more times the diameter of the charge. The shaped charge jet armor penetration effect is purely kinetic in nature; the round has no explosive or incendiary effect on the armor.
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. A shell can hold a tracer.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an American armored self-propelled multiple launch rocket system.
The M982 Excalibur is a 155 mm extended-range guided artillery shell developed in a collaborative effort between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). The Excalibur was developed and/or manufactured by prime contractor Raytheon Missiles & Defense, BAE Systems AB and other subs and primes in multiple capacities such as Camber Corporation and Huntington Ingalls Industries. It is a GPS and inertial-guided munition capable of being used in close support situations within 75–150 meters (250–490 ft) of friendly troops or in situations where targets might be prohibitively close to civilians to attack with conventional unguided artillery fire. In 2015, the United States planned to procure 7,474 rounds with a FY 2015 total program cost of US$1.9341 billion at an average cost of US$258,777 per unit. By 2016, unit costs were reduced to US$68,000 per round. Versions that add laser-guidance capability and are designed to be fired from naval guns began testing in 2015. By October 2018, over 1,400 rounds had been fired in combat.
Project Sense and Destroy Armor, or SADARM, is a United States 'smart' submunition capable of searching for, and destroying tanks within a given target area.
The 2S4 Tyulpan is a Soviet 240 mm self-propelled heavy mortar. "2S4" is its GRAU designation. The Tyulpan is the largest mortar system in use today.
The M864 is an American made 155 mm artillery shell. It carries a DPICM warhead and incorporates base bleed technology to increase its range. The projectile is capable of delivering 24 M46 and 48 M42 dual-purpose anti-materiel/anti-personnel sub-munitions at ranges out to 29 kilometers. Base bleed technology was developed to reduce the amount of base drag on a projectile, thereby increasing the achieved range. The drag is reduced by a gas generator located on the base of the projectile. Once ignited, the gas generator bleeds hot gas into the projectile's wake, which causes the flow of air at the base to be less turbulent. The decrease in turbulence reduces base drag, which typically accounts for 50 percent of total drag. The amount of thrust produced by the base burner unit is negligible and does not serve the same function as the rocket motor on a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP).
The Extended Range Guided Munition was a precision guided rocket-assisted 5-inch (127 mm) shell (projectile) development by Raytheon for the U.S. Navy. The program was cancelled in March 2008 after twelve years of development and over 600 million dollars in funding. The developmental round was designated EX 171.
The 2K25 Krasnopol is a Soviet 152/155 mm cannon-launched, fin-stabilized, base bleed-assisted, semi-automatic laser-guided artillery weapon system. It automatically 'homes' on a point illuminated by a laser designator, typically operated by a drone or ground-based artillery observer. Krasnopol projectiles are fired mainly from Soviet self-propelled howitzers such as the 2S3 Akatsiya and 2S19 Msta-S and are intended to engage small ground targets such as tanks, other direct fire weapons, strong-points, or other significant point targets visible to the observer. It can be used against both stationary and moving targets.
Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.
A precision-guided munition (PGM), also called a smart weapon, smart munition, or smart bomb, is a guided munition intended to hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the Persian Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.
155 mm is a NATO-standard artillery shell caliber that is used in many field guns, howitzers, and gun-howitzers. It is defined in AOP-29 part 1 with reference to STANAG 4425.
The SMArt 155 is a German 155 mm artillery round designed for a long-range, indirect fire top-attack role against armoured vehicles. The projectile was developed in 1989 by Diehl BGT Defence in Überlingen, Germany, with Rheinmetall and started full-rate production for the German Army in 1998. It consists of a 47-kilogram (104 lb) heavy artillery projectile containing two autonomous, sensor-fused, "fire-and-forget" submunitions. Due to the submunitions, it has been considered by some to be a cluster munition. As of 2008, representatives of the German defense ministry have referred to it as not being classified as submunition weapons, which were prohibited by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Soviet 240 mm mortar M240 is a 240 millimeter breech loading smoothbore heavy mortar that fires a 130 kilogram projectile. It entered service in 1953.
The BONUS or ACED is a 155 mm artillery cluster round co-developed and manufactured by Bofors of Sweden and Nexter of France. It was designed to fulfill a long range, indirect fire, top attack requirement against armoured fighting vehicles.
Munitions India Limited (MIL) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Pune, India, established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. Munitions India primarily manufactures ammunition, explosives, rockets and bombs for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
The use of cluster munitions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) has been recorded by a number of eyewitnesses and journalists, as well as representatives of the UN, humanitarian and public organizations. In particular, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet, reported on March 30 at least 24 cases since the beginning of the invasion. As of July 1, hundreds of attacks by Russian forces with cluster munitions have already been recorded in the settlements of the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions. 215 civilians are known to have been killed in these shellings and 474 injured, many of which may go unreported. Both Russia as well as Ukraine have used cluster munitions during the conflict, however, Russian use has been extensive while Ukrainian use has been more limited.