Name the Cluster Bomb, an Update

By C. J. CHIVERS

Yesterday, this blog asked for your help with an unusual question: Can you identify a cluster bomb found last year in Libya? The bomblets in question were used during the war by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi. They remain scattered in at least one part of the country. And nobody – at least that we know of – has been able to identify them. Many of you replied in many ways – here, on Twitter, on Facebook and by e-mail. While no one had a conclusive answer, we do have more to report.


This morning we received a fresh batch of photographs of these mystery submunitions, including the image, top, of one of the bomblets before its stabilizing ribbon was deployed. More importantly, the researcher who sent the photographs was also in possession of images of what seem to have been the delivery system for these cluster bombs – a 122-millimeter ground-to-ground cargo rocket, shown below in a trio of images of its makeup and markings.

We also now have more images that show dimensions of the fragmentation casing, including these two, below.

 

For those arriving here fresh, read the previous At War post, and go here for general background (a painfully stiff video) on this category of cluster bomb, known as a dual purpose improved conventional munition, or D.P.I.C.M. And you can go here to see more photographs and background information, including on this crowd-source effort.
The feedback today in the comments section, and in many e-mails to chivers@nytimes.com or thegun.book@gmail.com, often emphasize the bomblets’ strong resemblance to the M77 or other American-made cluster bombs. (A German ordnance specialist writing under the name Satchmo also explains why these do match the cluster bombs formerly used by his country; you can read his comment at the bottom of the previous post.)
We agree that the resemblance to the American M series is strong, and there is probably a reason for this, which we will take up in a moment. But most of the technicians and analysts who have seen the images have said that they do not come from the American inventory. It would not be inconceivable for American arms manufacturers or brokers to have sold cluster munitions to Libya; many other weapons or munitions of American provenance turned up in the Qaddafi stocks. But these particular items do not seem to be a technical match. Have a close look at several of the images of the cluster munitions, and at the frame below.

It shows the small metal vane at the base of the stabilizing ribbon. This vane appears designed to spin the submunitions in flight, after the bomblets are released by the cargo canister that carries them near a target. The vanes most likely help to arm each bomblet’s fuze and perhaps, working with the ribbon, also serve to keep the bomblets in a fairly tight and predictable pattern, or group, so that they do not scatter. As far as we know, such a vane has not been a feature of anything in the American M series. If we are wrong, correct us and we will gladly tip our hats your way.
One working theory – and only a theory – is that these are reverse-engineered descendants of the American-made line. Convergence in arms design is common. Many weapons made in one country are, in the end, updates or copies of weapons made in others. You can see it in rifles, pistols, antitank rockets, antiship missiles and the avionics packages in aircraft. Call it what you will – intellectual piracy, aggressive borrowing, the fruits of espionage or foreign military acquisition programs. It’s an old, old game.
And this leads to possible clues, including a theory that D.P.I.C.M. vanes underwent experiments in Germany in the 1970s, and that that technology migrated from there, to any number of other countries. Another possible lead, according to one analyst, is that Italy manufactured cluster munitions for the 122-millimeter Firos system, and those submunitions might have been designed for it but did not see large-scale licensed production, and made their way to Colonel Qaddafi long before the ban on cluster munitions was in vogue.
Again, these are theories. There is no clear evidence yet to point to a particular nation or manufacturer.
And so the questions here still stand: Who made these D.P.I.C.M.’s, and when, and where?
There are many reasons the answers might matter. We are grateful for your help thus far.
Note: We also would like to take a moment and thank the researcher who provided these photographs from Libya. The source asked to remain anonymous, to protect several relationships on the ground.