How Iran’s use of cluster munitions is challenging Israel’s air defenses

By Jeremy Diamond, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Zeena Saifi, CNN

Tel Aviv, Israel (CNN) — Specks of orange light streak across the night sky as air raid sirens wail in the background.

It is an unnerving spectacle that has become a feature of the war here, as Iran has increasingly outfitted some of its ballistic missiles with cluster munitions, aiming to pierce Israel’s sophisticated air defenses.

The specks of light are small bombs, each carrying up to 11 pounds of explosives, which are released at high altitude from the head of the missile before raining down indiscriminately over a wide area. Most of Iran’s ballistic missiles carry about 24 bomblets, but one of its weapons – the Khorramshahr – can be equipped with up to 80, according to experts.

A CNN analysis of two separate Iranian cluster munitions attacks confirmed multiple impacts spread out across an area of seven and eight miles, respectively, falling at random on homes, businesses, roads and parks.

Israelis are relatively well protected by the early warnings that precede ballistic missile attacks and bomb shelters are widely accessible. Still, one bomblet killed two people on the outskirts of Tel Aviv last week and many others have been injured. The two men, both construction workers, were not in a shelter or protected space at the time of the attack.

Cluster munitions are by definition indiscriminate, which is why their use against populated areas is prohibited under international humanitarian law. There are several types of cluster munitions, including bombs dropped from aircraft and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) that can disperse hundreds of bomblets.

Amnesty International previously decried Iran’s use of cluster munitions during the 12-day war last June as a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.” The human rights group has also accused Israel of similar violations for its past use of cluster munitions in Lebanon in 2006. Israel has acknowledged using cluster munitions in the past but claims it does so in accordance with international humanitarian law. Iran has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on its use of cluster munitions.

Iran now appears to be equipping more of its ballistic missiles with a cargo warhead, which can carry cluster submunitions, than in previous conflicts with Israel. An Israeli military official said about half of all ballistic missiles fired at Israel during this war have been equipped with cluster munitions.

The munitions represent a significant new challenge for Israel’s air defenses, which have successfully intercepted most ballistic missiles, but struggle to stop the bomblets, due to their small size and the relatively little time to intercept.

“It’s a mechanism to bypass active missile defense,” said Tal Inbar, a missile expert who consults for Israeli defense companies.

In some cases, Inbar said, an Iranian ballistic missile can be successfully intercepted by Israel’s long-range interceptors, but the bomblets are still deployed – either because the missile was not hit head-on, or because the bomblets were already released.

Inbar said the bomblets can be intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system – which is intended for shorter-range missiles and other projectiles – but such intercept attempts are not always successful.

“Iranian designers have probably turned to a high-altitude dispersal approach in part to minimize the chance of a successful ground-based interception,” said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions expert and the director of Armament Research Services, adding that the munitions are small and falling at high speeds. “Whilst there are Russian and Chinese munitions that employ a similar approach, Iranian examples appear to disperse a relatively small number of submunitions over a much wider target area – resulting in a less militarily efficient design.”

In previous conflicts with Israel, Iran has fired large barrages of missiles – often dozens at a time – in order to overwhelm Israel’s air defenses. But as the United States and Israel pummel Iran’s ballistic missile launch capability, the cluster munitions may offer another way for Iran to pierce those defenses.

“I think Iran doesn’t have the capability at the moment of orchestrating a large barrage of ballistic missiles,” Inbar said. “So, if Iran wants to cause a lot of damage, even with a small number of ballistic missiles, then submunition missiles with bomblets will be the weapon of choice.”

But beyond sneaking small bombs past Israel’s air defenses, Iran’s use of cluster munitions may also be intended to try to reduce Israel’s stock of missile interceptors, potentially forcing it to fire dozens of them to eliminate the threat of a single missile.

“It’s a challenge,” Inbar said. “The equation between the number of missiles in Iran and the number of interceptors… be it in Israel or Abu Dhabi or Qatar, for example.”

The impact on the construction site in which two men died was one of five CNN verified from a March 9 missile attack – stretching across more than eight miles. One also wounded a person walking down a street in the next town.

The day before, another ballistic missile released its munitions across a seven-mile stretch of northern Tel Aviv and a neighboring suburb, striking a car wash, several residential areas and a park.

“The inherent technical characteristics of these particular combinations of missile and submunitions strongly suggest a weapon that was developed primarily to sow terror amongst a civilian population, rather than one having a clear military purpose,” Jenzen-Jones said.

The Israeli military and the Home Front Command have increasingly sought to communicate the danger of these bomblets to the Israeli public, urging people to remain in shelters for several minutes after the wail of the sirens has faded, until the all-clear is given. They have also pointed out the dangers of approaching unexploded bomblets.

“Its effect is similar to the explosion of a grenade– relatively limited local damage but highly dangerous to anyone nearby,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Because they spread across a large area, these submunitions can cause damage over a broad zone.”

But the real danger to Israel may be in Iran’s broader strategy, as the Islamic Republic increasingly appears to be pursuing a war of attrition.

With one missile – particularly one outfitted with cluster munitions – Iran can send millions of Israelis into bomb shelters and cause Israel and the US to continue expending a finite supply of costly missile interceptors.

“The ongoing use of such munitions is likely intended to have a primarily suppressive and psychological effect, with Iran seeking to wear down Israeli resolve and impose economic and social costs by forcing people to continually shelter from attacks,” Jenzen-Jones said.

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CNN’s Tal Shalev and Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.