Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

personnel have destroyed 46,082 unexploded M42 and M46 submunitions, 33
percent of the total number of duds destroyed. 67
Israel also widely used the M77 in Lebanon. M77 submunitions are delivered by M26
MLRS rockets. The launchers, rockets, and submunitions were produced in the
United States. Each rocket contains 644 M77 submunitions, and each MLRS can fire
up to 12 rockets at once. A typical volley of six rockets would release 3,864
submunitions over an area with a one-kilometer radius. Called “Steel Rain” by Gulf
War soldiers, the submunitions can pierce up to four inches of armor. 68 The M77,
visually distinguishable from the M42 and M46 by its white stripe, has a reported
test condition failure rate of 5 to 23 percent. 69 The US use of M26 rockets in Iraq in
2003 caused hundreds of civilian casualties. 70 Deminers in Lebanon have cleared
more M77s than any other type of submuntion—57,271 submunitions, which
represent 41 percent of the total. 71
M85 submunitions are delivered by M395 and M396 155mm artillery projectiles,
which contain 63 and 49 M85 submunitions, respectively. The submunitions and the
projectiles were made in Israel. Israel has produced at least two versions of the M85
submunition, an older model similar to the M42, M46, and M77, and a newer model
with a self-destruct device. Many military experts consider the newer version to be
one of the most reliable and sophisticated submunitions in existence. 72 The
67 Email communication from Dalya Farran, media and post clearance officer, MACC SL, to Human Rights Watch, January 18,
2008.
68 Globalsecurity.org, “Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Weapons.”
69 A 5 percent failure rate was reported in US Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics),
“Report to Congress: Cluster Munitions,” pp. 2-6. A 16 percent failure rate was reported in US Office of the Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, “Unexploded Ordnance Report,” table 2-3, p. 5. A 23 percent failure rate for
some newly produced lots was reported in US General Accounting Office, “GAO/NSIAD-92-212: Operation Desert Storm:
Casualties Caused by Improper Handling of Unexploded US Submunitions,” August 1993, pp. 5-6. UK testing has indicated a 5
to 10 percent failure rate, which is largely dependent on ground conditions and range. DLO Secretariat, DLO Andover,
“Response to Landmine Action Question,” Reference 06-02-2006-145827-009, March 27, 2006.
70 Human Rights Watch, Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq (New York: Human Rights Watch,
2003), http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/.
71 Email communication from Dalya Farran, media and post clearance officer, MACC SL, to Human Rights Watch, January 18,
2008.
72 Military experts from numerous countries that stockpile the M85 or variants of it have made this claim in discussions with
Human Rights Watch during sessions of the CCW in recent years.
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