cluster munition
Area-denial explosive device
A cluster munition is a weapon that releases multiple smaller submunitions—bomblets or grenades—over a wide area.
Dropped from aircraft or fired from artillery, they scatter explosives across a target zone, making them effective against dispersed forces but devastating to civilians.
Many submunitions fail to detonate on impact, leaving behind unexploded ordnance that kills and maims long after conflicts end.
Over 100 countries have banned cluster munitions by treaty.
Small dispersed munition
- submunitionDeployed secondary explosive
- dispenserDevice that releases portions
- payloadCarried freight or charge
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
casing · fuse · airburst · dud · canister · carrier · deployment · delivery system
Official restriction on something
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- Geneva ConventionsWartime humanitarian treaties
- international lawRules governing relations between countries
disarmament · non-state actors · ratification · signatory · compliance · enforcement · accountability
Large-caliber battlefield weapons
- carpet bombingWidespread aerial bombardment
- airstrikeAircraft-delivered military attack
- barrageSustained, overwhelming attack
- salvoSimultaneous weapons discharge
rocket · missile · launcher · mortar · howitzer · battlefield · ordnance · trajectory
Noncombatants killed in conflict
- unexploded ordnanceMilitary ammunition that failed to detonate
- victim assistanceSupport for crime-affected individuals
- clearancePermitted passage or approval
- deminingRemoving buried explosives
contamination · aftermath · remnants · hazardous · dangerous · scattered · cleanup · disposal
bomblet
Small dispersed munition
- submunitionDeployed secondary explosive
- dispenserDevice that releases portions
- payloadCarried freight or charge
fragmentation · casing · fuse · airburst · dud · canister · carrier · deployment · delivery system
ban
Official restriction on something
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- Geneva ConventionsWartime humanitarian treaties
international law · disarmament · non-state actors · ratification · signatory · compliance · enforcement · accountability
artillery
Large-caliber battlefield weapons
- carpet bombingWidespread aerial bombardment
- airstrikeAircraft-delivered military attack
- barrageSustained, overwhelming attack
salvo · rocket · missile · launcher · mortar · howitzer · battlefield · ordnance · trajectory · saturation
civilian casualties
Noncombatants killed in conflict
- unexploded ordnanceMilitary ammunition that failed to detonate
- victim assistanceSupport for crime-affected individuals
- clearancePermitted passage or approval
demining · contamination · aftermath · remnants · hazardous · dangerous · scattered · cleanup · disposal · collateral damage
- ordnancebomb, grenade, landmine, mine, mortar round
- Explosivesbomb, dynamite, grenade, TNT, C-4
- Bomb Disposalbomb disposal, bomb squad, EOD, bomb robot, bomb disposal robot
- ammunitionammo, bullet, bullets, shells, rounds
- guided weaponsguided bomb, smart bomb, laser-guided bomb, cruise missile, Maverick
- rocket launchersrocket launcher, RPG, bazooka, shoulder-fired, rocket artillery
cluster munitionsmart bomb
Self-guided explosive weapon
laser-guided bomb · surgical strike · precision strike · guided missile · cruise missile
cluster munitionnon-lethal weapon
Armament designed to incapacitate
tear gas · rubber bullet · stun grenade · flashbang · smoke grenade
cluster, clusters, clustered, clustering, munition, munitions, ammunition