Pentagon will select 'lower dud' cluster munitions for Ukraine, if provided

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon said Thursday that if the US supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, it will be done with careful consideration, choosing those with "lower dud rates."

Spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference that sending Ukraine the Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICMs) "is something that is under consideration."

"We have multiple variants of DPICMs in our stocks and the ones that we are considering would not include older variants with dud rates that are higher than 2.35%," he said. "We are aware of reports out there from several decades ago that indicate that certain 155-millimeter DPICMs have higher death rates. So we would be carefully selecting rounds with lower dud rates.”

Earlier, reports indicated that the Biden administration will announce it will provide Ukraine with cluster munitions this week.

Ryder said the Russians have already been using cluster munitions on the battlefield.