Four Republican members of Congress have asked the president to approve the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a major weapons package.
In a letter on March 21, Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) urged President Joe Biden to send Ukraine cluster-type munitions — dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) — and facilitate the ongoing deliberations of other allies to do the same.
“We remain deeply disappointed by your administration’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create and exploit operational breakthroughs against the Russians,” the letter read.
The four Republicans alleged in the letter that the president’s reticence is based on “vague concerns about the reactions of allies and partners and unfounded fears of ‘escalation.’”
Ukrainian officials requested cluster munitions last year but the provision was not deemed necessary by the Biden administration, per CNN.
Cluster munitions are controversial and have been banned in over 100 countries for their ability to release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can detonate over a wide target area. They can pose a threat to civilians when they do not explode, acting like landmines. Russian forces reportedly use this kind of munition in Ukraine.
Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Adam Smith (D-WA), who serve on the Armed Services House Committee, said that Kyiv asked for MK-20 Rockeye IIs last month during the Munich Security Conference, per Reuters.
The MK-20, also known as the CBU-100, is an air-delivered cluster bomb with 240 individual explosives.
According to Crow and Smith, Kyiv wants to take the MK-20s apart and drop their small bomblets from drones in hope that they will have better luck penetrating Russian armor than traditional munitions.
The Pentagon holds over 1.5 million cluster bombs in its stockpiles in South Korea, per The New York Times.
While the U.S. has not signed any agreement to ban these types of weapons, it pledged to sharply restrict them in the interest of preventing civilian casualties in 2008. It has funded research into finding an alternative munition demonstrating similar capabilities since 2018.
It is currently unknown how President Biden will respond to the four GOP lawmakers’ recent request to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, per Reuters.
Some GOP lawmakers have been equally vocal about sending Ukraine fighter jets, another item on the war-besieged country’s wish list. While Poland and Slovakia have recently prepared shipments of MiGs, the Biden administration has been steadfast in its refusal of F-16s.
That being said, the U.S. has not been too stingy in its military support of Ukraine.
The most recent package sent at the start of this month included equipment and ammunition worth approximately $400 million, adding to the total of more than $30 billion in military aid packages sent to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, per the U.S. Department of Defense.