The U.S. Cluster Munitions Coalition (USCMC) is gravely concerned by and firmly opposes the U.S. State Department’s proposed authorization for the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. This decision marks the first U.S.-permitted transfer of cluster munitions of the Trump administration.
According to congressional notifications submitted as required by the Arms Export Control Act, the proposed retransfer of munitions to Ukraine includes 2,524 M26 unguided Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) rockets, 47,000 M509A1 203mm DPICM artillery rounds and 70 M39 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles. These munitions, co-produced by the United States and Türkiye, each can carry hundreds of individual submunitions, and together this proposed transfer includes an estimated 10 million submunitions.
Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that present a severe, foreseeable danger to civilians, and are accordingly internationally banned. According to the 2025 Cluster Munition Monitor Ukraine had the highest number of casualties from 2022-2024, with more than 1,200 cluster munition casualties recorded. Additionally in 2024, all recorded casualties were civilians and 42% were children. Allowing the transfer of these weapons will further exacerbate the harm these weapons have done to civilians in Ukraine.
“Facilitating the transfer of tens of thousands more cluster munitions to Ukraine will inevitably pose a deadly threat to civilians long after their use,” said John Ramming Chappell co-chair of the USCMC. “Authorizing the retransfer of these internationally banned weapons undermines progress toward eradicating cluster munitions worldwide.”
Over 110 nations have banned cluster munitions under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, recognizing their unacceptable humanitarian cost. While the United States, Türkiye, and Ukraine are not state parties to the treaty, transferring these stockpiles exacerbates humanitarian crises while undermining the global consensus against their use.
The USCMC urgently calls on Congress to exercise its authorities under the Arms Export Control Act to challenge and block retransfer authorizations involving cluster munitions. Banning cluster munitions transfers has consistently received bipartisan support in Congress. The USCMC also urges the Trump Administration to reconsider its policy on cluster munitions, withdraw the re-export authorizations for all cluster munitions, and commit to ending the transfer, production, and operational use of cluster munitions in all circumstances.
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About the U.S. Cluster Munitions Coalition:
The U.S. Cluster Munition Coalition is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working to achieve a comprehensive U.S. ban on cluster munitions as well as U.S. accession to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which 124 countries have signed or ratified. Our coalition also calls for sustained U.S. government financial support for the clearance of cluster munition remnants and assistance for victims of the weapons.