Quote:
Originally Posted by kato13
Does the US still have cluster munitions for the MLRS/HIMARS?
When I am hearing stories of an upcoming force of 300k coming over the Belorussian border, I am remembering T2k talking about Assault Breaker system (precursor to the MGM-140_ATACMS) ripping up the Soviet units rolling into Chinese Territory.
I know the US , Ukraine, and Russia all have not signed the CCM and Russia used them early in the invasion.
I get why the world is against them, but this seems like a perfect opportunity for their use. |
The M26 cluster MLRS rockets were removed from service in June 2009 per an order signed in July 2008 by George W. Bush. The current Alternative Warhead rounds (M30A1 and M30A2) use tungsten fragments to get a similar effect without the risk of unexploded ordnance. There might be some that survived destruction by the time Donald Trump revoked Bush's order in 2017, but since the last of them were manufactured in 2001 and the shelf life for the rocket is 25 years, any survivors are getting pretty close to end-of-life.
The cluster ATACMS have all had their warheads replaced with unitary high explosive warheads. The older ones also had GPS added (M39A1 already had GPS, M39 did not, they're all now M57E1 standard).
More likely might be getting Korean KM26A2 rockets, which were license-built until 2011 (when the license expired and wasn't renewed, possibly because of the standing order from former President Bush).