Iran’s Cluster Bombs Challenge Israeli Defense Systems in Ongoing Conflict

Israeli officials report Iran has deployed cluster munitions daily during their 10-day conflict, creating new challenges for air defense systems. These weapons scatter dozens of smaller bomblets over wide areas, making them difficult to intercept and dangerous to civilians even after the initial attack.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli military officials report that Iran has deployed cluster munitions on a daily basis throughout their ongoing 10-day conflict, presenting new complications for the nation’s air defense capabilities.

These weapons function by releasing their payload at high elevations, dispersing numerous smaller explosive devices across extensive areas. The secondary explosives, which appear as orange fireballs during nighttime attacks, present significant interception challenges and have caused casualties.

Israeli officials, who typically limit public disclosure about Iranian strikes and resulting damage, have recently launched public awareness campaigns about these weapons’ hazards, including the risk posed by unexploded ordnance that remains dangerous after civilians emerge from protective shelters.

More than 120 nations have ratified an international agreement prohibiting cluster munition deployment, though Israel, the United States, and Iran remain outside this treaty. These weapons have appeared in global conflicts for decades, including Israel’s 2006 confrontation with the Iran-backed Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah.

The weapons operate when a primary munition deploys smaller submunitions at elevations between 7-10 kilometers (4-6 miles). These secondary devices spread across vast territories, spanning several hundred meters to multiple kilometers, sacrificing accuracy for broad coverage.

International critics contend that cluster munitions cause indiscriminate casualties, with unexploded components posing long-term threats. In Israel’s case, the danger increases because most missiles target the country’s heavily populated central region.

“Cluster bombs don’t create real damage to buildings, only people,” said Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

While Israel’s Arrow defense system effectively intercepts incoming ballistic missiles, Kalisky explained that once cluster munitions deploy before missile destruction, defensive options become limited.

Israel’s Iron Dome technology targets smaller rockets launched from shorter distances and lower elevations. However, it lacks the capability to neutralize dispersed bomblet clusters, Kalisky noted.

The lightweight bomblets — typically under 3 kilograms (7 pounds) — pose the greatest threat to vehicles, storefronts, and individuals outside protective shelters, unlike heavier explosive devices.

“They pose a particular threat to the civilian population both during and after use, with victims often including a high proportion of children,” according to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

These secondary munitions experience higher failure rates compared to conventional warheads. Unexploded devices function similarly to landmines, potentially detonating later and causing random casualties.

The Open Source Munitions Portal, which verifies publicly available munition imagery globally, has released multiple photographs of unexploded submunitions discovered in Israel this week.

While larger Iranian missiles have caused most damage in Israel, Iran has deployed cluster munitions on a “nearly daily basis,” stated Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson. He noted Iran launched similar projectiles during their 12-day conflict in June.

Military sources indicate Iranian warheads contain 20 to 24 bomblets with explosive components weighing up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds).

Israel’s Home Front Command has circulated warnings advising residents against touching unexploded submunitions. Police public service announcements similarly caution people to avoid contact with suspicious objects and contact authorities instead.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project reports that Iran announced in 2017 its Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile could transport multiple warheads. These missiles represent Iran’s largest submunition-carrying weapons. Iran also possesses shorter-range Zolfaghar missiles equipped with submunitions.

Cluster munitions, including those captured in Associated Press footage traveling westward toward Israel, resemble falling fireballs — an appearance created by atmospheric reentry friction.

N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, noted limited public information exists regarding Iran’s cluster munitions beyond state television coverage of leadership factory visits and military exercise footage. However, recent deployment videos suggest some Iranian missiles carrying cluster warheads are engineered to open at high altitudes, dispersing them across areas far exceeding typical military targets.

Engineering features enabling high-altitude dispersal — including protective coatings allowing submunitions to survive atmospheric reentry heat — indicate these weapons were constructed for less precise applications than cluster munitions observed in other conflicts.

“The design seems to scatter submunitions so widely as to suggest it was designed purely as a weapon of terror, scattering its explosive cargo indiscriminately over a wide area,” Jenzen-Jones said.

Following the July 2025 12-day Iran-Israel war, Amnesty International declared Iran’s “deliberate use of such inherently indiscriminate weapons is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

While cluster munitions — including more targeted versions than Iran’s — remain legal, Geneva Conventions prohibit their use in civilian areas. Recent international agreements signed by over 120 nations also ban these weapons.

Nazi Germany first deployed cluster munitions when it dropped “butterfly bombs” on the United Kingdom during World War II. The United States has utilized various types in Vietnam, Laos, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and supplied cluster munitions to Ukraine. Russia faced accusations of using cluster bombs during its 2022 full-scale Ukraine invasion, which Moscow denied.

During Israel’s 2006 Lebanon war with militant group Hezbollah, the United Nations estimated 30% to 40% of Israeli cluster bombs failed to detonate, leaving southern Lebanon contaminated with hundreds of thousands of bomblets.

The U.S. State Department concluded Israel likely deployed American-manufactured cluster bombs in civilian areas during the 2006 conflict, after U.N. demining teams discovered unexploded bomblets in hundreds of locations.

According to a military official speaking anonymously under briefing protocols, Israel is not currently using cluster bombs.