----------------- The Accusation -----------------

On the 30th of November 2008, 3 days before 92 countries signed a treaty banning the use of Cluster Munitions in Oslo.. the Pro-LTTE online news site, Tamilnet.com, released the following article (A). The article was accompanied with the following pictures, alleging to be the remains of the empty casing from a Cluster Bomb, and was cited as being definite evidence that the SLAF employ Cluster Bombs.

Then again on the 24th of December 2008, the same news site published the following article with the attached picture as further evidence of the SLAF`s use of Cluster Bombs (B).

On the 18th of January 2009, Tamilnet released the following article with the attached pictures of an un-exploded bomb proclaiming it to be another Cluster Bomb that had been dropped by the SLAF (C).

The aim of this post is prove beyond a reasonable doubt that none of the images shown, or the ancillary pieces of evidence cited the alleged proof to show the employment of Cluster Bombs by the SLAF are in fact Cluster Bombs or caused by Cluster munitions.

----------------- Cluster Bombs -----------------

Cluster munitions are small and numerous, packaged in delivery systems which can drop thousands of sub-munitions on an area in a very short amount of time. Since they are dropped from the air or fired from rockets and artillery projectiles, they are very difficult to track, map, or find. With dud rates ranging from an estimated 2% to 30%, they create large, unmapped minefields in areas where people live or will return to live. Many of the sub-munitions are buried underground, gradually coming to the surface over time, or as a result of agricultural activity.

----------------- Russian Cluster Bombs (PBK) -----------------

Russia manufactures 4 types of `Tactical Munition Dispensers` - The RBK-100, -180, -250, -500 (Р Б К -100, -180, -250, -500). `RBK` in Russian stands for `Razovaya Bombovaya Kasseta`, `Single-use Bomb Cassette`. The biggest casing in this range is the RBK-500. These dispensers, combined with their sub-munition payload are given the now universal designation - Cluster Bomb.

The outer casing of the RBK Cluster Bomb is unique in its design, and has several distinguishable characteristics that set it apart from other unguided munitions manufactured by Russia. In particular, its nose/fuse cone configuration and the tail unit are unique. Its design is very specific to the release of cluster munitions and therefore cannot be used for any other type of explosive ordnance. Given in the spread are examples of the RBK-500 canister (D).

All Russian guided and unguided air dropped munitions are marked to describe the type of bomb and its associated explosive payload.

For Russian Cluster Bombs, the following table (E) describes the different designations

All Russian Cluster Bombs have the letters `Р Б К ` painted on the canister to identify it.

In RBK cluster bombs, a nose-mounted electromechanical time fuse is used to fire an ejection charge in the nose cone. As a result of its firing mechanism which occurs in flight, the RBK canister does not come with a retarding parachute as found on other types of unguided Russian bombs.

After the sub-munitions have been ejected from a cluster bomb, their dispersal is random, with the size of the impact pattern increasing with the bomb opening altitude. The forward motion of the bomb creates a cigar-shaped impact pattern of sub-munitions on the ground, near which the empty bomb container may be found.

Occasionally, the cluster bomb will fail to open. When this happens, the sub-munitions are generally unarmed and well protected, so they will not normally detonate. However, access can be difficult if the sub-munitions are inside damaged or partially buried cluster bombs and the sub-munitions themselves may be damaged and in an unpredictable condition.

Operational statistics from the field show that the dud rates on most Russian sub-munitions range from around 10% to 30%.

As a result, there are 2 characteristic features that should be always present in any area where a Russian Cluster bomb has been used:

---- Unexploded Sub-Munitions.
---- Dispenser Casing with markings identifying type and payload.

------ The Alleged Evidence Pertaining to the Use of Cluster Bombs ------

Apart from the recovery of empty casings belonging to an air dropped unguided munition, there has been no evidence presented to indicate the presence of any un-exploded sub-munitions in areas allegedly attacked using Cluster Bombs. Given the statistical dud rates of Cluster Bomb sub-munitions, the very reason this class of weapon is considered extremely dangerous, the lack of any sub-munitions in the affected areas is a notable anomaly.

Nevertheless, the recovered casings were exhibited as belonging to a Russian Cluster Bomb (F).

To an impartial observer comparing the features highlighted (F & G): the nose cone, tail fin configuration, and the identifying markings can clearly see that the two sets of figures are not of the same class of weapon.

----------------- What are these Weapons? -----------------

The bomb casings exhibited as belonging to Russian Cluster Bombs do in fact belong to a different class of Russian munition.

This range of bombs are called `Low Drag Blast Fragmentation` weapons. `OFAB` in Russian stands for `Oskolochno-Fugasnaya`, `Fragmentation/HE` (H).

The markings on one of the bomb casings shown on Tamilnet.com reads as О Ф А Б -500Ш Р , which stands for OFAB-500ShR in English.

This weapon comes with a parachute which is attached to the rear section of the bomb as shown in the above image.

Comparing the two sets of images (I & J) clearly show that the weapon recovered is a Russian `OFAB` series `Low Drag Blast Fragmentation` munition, and not a Russian Cluster Bomb.

The second unexploded bomb is a Russian Fuel-Air Explosive.

This range of bombs are called `Fuel-Air Explosive` weapons. `ODAB` in Russian stands for `Ob`emno-deto-niyushchaya`, `Area Detonation` (K).

This weapon comes with a parachute which is attached to the rear section of the bomb as shown in the above image.

Comparing the two sets of images (L & M) clearly show that the weapon recovered is a Russian `ODAB` series `Fuel-Air Explosive` munition, and not a Russian Cluster Bomb.

----------------- CONCLUSION -----------------

This post has shown that the evidence used to substantiate an allegation that the SLAF use Cluster Bombs on civilian areas, is found to be untrue and a deliberate distortion of the facts.

And that is how you expose another LIE!!.. :O))