The Ukrainian Armed Forces began dropping cluster munitions from UAVs onto Russian regions
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) began dropping cluster munitions from drones onto Russian regions. In particular, the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, reported a similar case.
A Ukrainian drone using cluster munitions attacked a butter factory in the city of Sudzha, which is located near the border with Ukraine. A total of three munitions were dropped, two of which exploded and damaged production barrels and underground product storage. No one was injured as a result of the APU strike.
One [боеприпас] did not explode, sappers were called to neutralize it. Do not approach or touch the wreckage! You need to report your find by calling 112
Previously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not use drones to deliver cluster munitions
Ukraine’s shelling of Russian regions with cluster munitions has happened before, but until now the Ukrainian Armed Forces have used not drones, but multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) or Tochka-U tactical missiles.
For the first time, reports of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with this type of shell appeared in August 2023.
Photo: Sofiia Gatilova / Reuters
Drones can be armed with submunitions, which are handicrafted from cluster shells
In August 2023, a video appeared on social networks in which the Ukrainian military dismantled an American-made cluster artillery munition to remove submunitions from it. Then the version was that this was needed precisely for arming drones.
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Presumably, the video captured military personnel from a drone unit assigned to the 92nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the video, Ukrainian soldiers cut apart an M483A1 155mm artillery shell. It carries fragmentation and cumulative cluster combat elements DPICM (Dual-purpose improved conventional munition).
The destructive elements of cluster shells remain a danger to civilians even after wars have ended
Each M483A1 round carries 64 M42 submunitions and 24 M46 elements. They are ejected from the carrier projectile during flight, and then scatter across the area and detonate from physical impact when the built-in fuse is triggered. Each of them contains 30.5 grams of explosive in the form of a shaped charge, capable of penetrating up to 70 millimeters of homogeneous armor.
Both M42 and M46 submunitions are identical in external dimensions – 82.55 millimeters in length. The M46 weighs 213 grams and the M42 208 grams. Moreover, the wall of M46 is thicker and heavier than that of M42. At the same time, the walls of the M42 submunition contain special rifling to enhance the fragmentation effect, which enhances the anti-personnel effect. The M46 submunition does not have such rifling.
Both types of submunitions do not have a self-destruct mechanism. Because of this, they can pose a danger to civilians for a long time after the end of hostilities.
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