Ukraine Burning Through Ammo Alarms NATO as Divisions Emerge Over War

Ukraine's NATO backers are split over the U.S. supply of cluster munitions, which will be a much-needed boost for Kyiv's ammunition stockpiles as it forges on with its counteroffensive.

Cluster bombs will help Ukraine keep up with its sky-high ammunition needs, experts have told Newsweek, but several of Kyiv's supporters have balked at the provision of the controversial munitions.

On Friday, the U.S. said it was supplying dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), a form of cluster bomb that disperses submunitions over a wide area. They are considered an effective military weapon, but they can pose a danger to civilians.

U.S. President Joe Biden told CNN that Washington had made the "difficult" decision because "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition."

In a media briefing, Colin Kahl, a senior Pentagon official, said the new military package – which also included more ammunition for Patriot air defense systems and HIMARS – meant the U.S. could furnish Ukraine "with hundreds of thousands of additional artillery ammunition immediately."

"By providing Ukraine with DPICM artillery ammunition, we will ensure that the Ukrainian military has sufficient artillery ammunition for many months to come," Kahl added.

Although there are no figures available for how much ammunition Ukraine has left, what it needs, or how much it has used, Kyiv has repeatedly called for ammunition supplies from its Western backers.

Sending cluster munitions will boost Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts in the eastern and southern parts of the country, experts told Newsweek.

Ukraine's incredibly high ammunition consumption "far outstrips present Ukrainian and Western ammunition production," according to Frederik Mertens, of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies. In February, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance's "unprecedented support" was "consuming an enormous quantity of Allied ammunition, and depleting our stockpiles."

Any weapon that boosts Ukraine's ammunition stockpiles is useful from the Kyiv military's point of view, Mertens told Newsweek, "especially in this crucial phase of the war when Western support still is firm, and Kyiv is on the offensive."

Cluster munitions will give Ukraine's artillery units "a far superior capability to deal with hostile mechanized units," he added. Cluster bombs spread submunitions over a far greater area than other ammunition, and they are more effective against hard targets.

This "really enhances the abilities of the Ukrainian artillery to support their offensive," Mertens argued. Ukraine at the same time receives additional ammunition through this military package, but these munitions also go further than other ammunition, which is then conserved for other targets.

Cluster munitions are "very useful for clearing out large numbers of infantry," Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, previously told Newsweek. This would be "of considerable value" for Ukraine against Russian forces that are "increasingly reliant on expendable infantry troops," he continued.

But it's also "plausible that no other rounds can readily be supplied," according to military and defense expert David Hambling.

"Western materiel support has lagged Ukrainian requests, often by many months," he told Newsweek. "Not getting the equipment and ammunition they need is unlikely to lose the war – but it will very much slow down the progress of the counteroffensive" and rack up higher casualties, he added.

The move to supply cluster munitions will not have been an easy one, as Ukraine will be using these munitions on their own territory knowing its civilians could be placed in harm's way, Hambling said.

They are banned in more than 120 countries, as they can endanger civilians and detonate long after they have been deployed. But the U.S., Ukraine and Russia aren't signed up to a treaty prohibiting their production, use or stockpiling.

Kahl told the media following the U.S. announcement that the DPICM rounds heading for Ukraine have an "extremely low" dud rate of less than 2.35 percent, referring to how often they fail to detonate as intended.

"Compare that to Russia, which has been using cluster munitions across Ukraine with dud rates of between 30 and 40 percent," Kahl told reporters.

Despite the military advantages, several NATO leaders showed discomfort over the decision. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the U.K. was a signatory to the convention banning cluster weapons and that it "discourages" their use.

British MP Tobias Ellwood, who heads up the U.K.'s Defence Committee in the House of Commons, said this was the "wrong call" and the U.S. should "reconsider."

New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said cluster munitions were "indiscriminate" weapons, adding they "cause huge damage to innocent people, potentially, and they can have a long-lasting effect as well."

Canada's government said it was "committed to putting an end to the effects cluster munitions have on civilians – particularly children," and Spain and Germany have also expressed their opposition to cluster bombs.