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Summary

Cluster munitions stand out as the weapon category most in need of stronger national and international regulation in order to protect civilians during and following armed conflict.  Cluster munitions have been used in at least twenty countries and while this number is still relatively limited, the harm to the civilian population is striking in nearly every case.  Cluster munitions pose an immediate danger to civilians during attacks, especially in populated areas, because they are inaccurate and have a wide dispersal pattern.  They also endanger civilians long after the conflict due to the high number of submunition duds that do not explode on impact and become de facto landmines.

The potential future dangers of widespread production and continued proliferation of cluster munitions demand urgent action to bring the humanitarian threat under control.  At least seventy countries stockpile cluster munitions and the aggregate number of submunitions in these stockpiles is staggering.  For example, the stockpile of the United States alone contains upwards of one billion submunitions.  Most of the cluster munitions now in stockpiles are not sophisticated weapons, but rather are types known to be highly inaccurate and to have high submunition failure rates.  Despite the demonstrated humanitarian harm, some countries continue to produce these unacceptably dangerous cluster munitions.  

In recent years, more countries are producing or importing new cluster munitions with technologies such as self-destruct fuzes and guidance systems.  While less harmful, most of these more advanced cluster munitions also pose great threats to civilian populations, due to their wide footprint (strike area) and still significant number of hazardous duds. 

For the future, there is concern that the number of countries capable of producing cluster munitions will continue to grow as production know-how is licensed and technology transferred, and that countries will increasingly offer out-of-date, surplus cluster munitions to less advanced military allies.

This briefing paper identifies the countries known to produce and export cluster munitions.  An appendix lists the companies that produce and offer cluster munitions for sale.  The paper highlights some positive steps being taken by a number of countries, and recommends steps regarding production and transfer for governments committed to reducing the risk to civilians posed by cluster munitions.