image sourced from original article at Officials are warning that Iran's cluster warheads, though described as primitive, continue to pose a serious threat if not intercepted before reentry. When these missiles are not destroyed outside the atmosphere, they can deploy multiple submunitions over a wide area.
At an altitude of about 8 kilometers, the missile opens and scatters its contents across a radius of roughly 10 kilometers. This dispersal pattern can result in numerous impact sites from a single launch, potentially affecting several communities within that range.
The wide spread of submunitions increases the risk to civilian areas and complicates defensive and emergency response efforts, underscoring concerns about the weapon's continued use despite its relatively unsophisticated design.
