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How Iran's use of cluster munitions is challenging Israel's air defenses
How Iran’s use of cluster munitions is challenging Israel’s air defenses
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.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/middleeast/iran-cluster-munition-israel-defenses-intl-cmd
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.