UK Ministry of Defence, The Guardian has reported that cluster bombs are to remain a part of the armoury available to the British Forces.
The two cluster bombs retained by the MOD are; the UK variant of the M85 sub-munitions, which has a self-deactivation mechanism. The UK last used it in Iraq in 2003. It was highly effective against Iraqi armour and made a direct contribution to saving the lives of UK service personnel; the CRV-7 MPSM which we do not consider causes the humanitarian problem we are committed to resolve as it has less than 10 sub-munitions, has a direct-fire capability and a relatively short range. The CRV-7 MPSM is deployed in Afghanistan but has not been used in combat by UK Armed Forces.
Cluster munitions are legitimate weapons when used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. The UK Armed Forces only use cluster munitions in strict accordance with International Humanitarian Law and our own strict targeting guidelines. In March 2007 Des Browne announced the withdrawal from service of the UK's basic or “dumb” cluster munitions and called upon others to do so.
The Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions to negotiate a new instrument of international humanitarian law banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians will take place from 19-30 May 2008. The UK's goal at the meeting is to produce a new legally binding instrument to address the humanitarian impact of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
Our national policy (as reiterated by the Prime Minister in his November 2007 Guildhall speech) is to secure a prohibition on the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
A ban on the use of all types of sub-munitions though would adversely impact on the UK's operational effectiveness, impose serious capability gaps on our Armed Forces and take away one element of force protection; we cannot therefore exclude their use either in current or future operations.
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