In game etiquette

[Ssnake]

3 hours ago, Maj.Hans said:

About DPICM, when you say "THEY" who specifically do you mean?  Does Russia have it?  Does China have it?

 

Here's the list of signatories (which would have taken you just a minute of googling).

 

Now, the US still have it. The question is to which extent the in-theater policy would still make the use of these munitions permissible. I guess that would largely depend on the President's priorities and the length of the State Department's screwdriver.

[Maj.Hans]

3 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

 

Here's the list of signatories (which would have taken you just a minute of googling).

 

Now, the US still have it. The question is to which extent the in-theater policy would still make the use of these munitions permissible. I guess that would largely depend on the President's priorities and the length of the State Department's screwdriver.

 

OK, I'm familiar with that list.  I read through that a few times though and for some reason I was under the impression that it still allowed for DPICM type munitions if they met certain requirements.

[ChrisWerb]

What I find interesting are some of the efforts underway to recapitalise the (still vast despite the huge demil programme) DPICM/submunition inventory into something useable.

 

ATACMS Block 1 and 1A - conversion to unitary warhead.

MLRS - proposal to use motors to power SDB-1 glide bombs for surface launch.

GMLRS M30 - converted to M31 unitary since 2006 (probably long since complete and expended)

155mm - conversion of M483A1 to practice HE (as not designed to fragment), illuminating (M1124) and IR illuminating (M1123).

 

I don't know if you caught it on the news, but Textron have discontinued manufacture of the CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapon after an export licence to Saudi Arabia was refused. It is a move also intended to boost their "share ownability" by organisations with ethical restrictions on investment. The CBU-105 was the only munition claimed to meet the 1% dud rate target (the US intends not to use any munitions that do not meet this criterion anywhere in the world from 2018, but as Snake points out, that policy could change). As the "can o' whupass" was the USAF's key means of stopping mass armoured attacks there is going to have to be some serious thinking about what to do when the present stocks expire. Textron are now in the tricky position of claiming not to make cluster munitions but presumably still offering support to existing inventories.