Explain Like I'm Five

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ELI5: How are unexploded cluster munitions not a solved problem? (pawb.social)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I really don't have a lot of background on cluster munitions; it only really came into my perception in response to the controversy over the US providing them to Ukraine. As I understand it, the controversy is because they often don't all explode reliably, and unexploded munitions can then explode months or years later when civilians are occupying the territory, making it similar to the problems caused by landmines.

In an age where things like location trackers, radio transmitters, and other such local and long-range technology to locate objects are common place, what's stopping the manufacturers of these munitions from simply putting some kind of device to facilitate tracking inside each individual explosive, to assist with detection and safe retrieval after a conflict? I get that nothing is a 100% effective solution, but it seems like it'd solve most of it.

Can someone with actual knowledge explain why this is still a problem we're having?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Active transmitters need high capacity batteries to be able to transmit signals for long periods after deployment. And batteries don’t like heat in general. They will also require fairly complex electronics which again need to be designed to handle the forces involved. It’s not like this hasn’t been done before (eg. GPS guided shells), but it’s just very costly and needs a good amount of physical space.

Instead, most modern cluster munitions (and mines) have mechanisms to disable themselves after a certain period of time. But like you said, nothing is perfect.