Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition

A Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead designed to burst into sub-munitions at an optimum altitude and distance from the desired target for dense area coverage. The sub-munitions are designed for both antiarmor and antipersonnel attack. Some sub-munitions may be designed for delayed reaction or mobility denial (mines). The air-to-surface variety of this kind of munition is better known as a cluster bomb. They are banned in some countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

US DPICM projectiles
Development work for DPICM projectiles began in the late 1950s, with the first projectile, the 105 mm M444 entering service in 1961, though the submunitions were simple bounding anti-personnel grenades (ICM). Production of the M444 ended in the early 1990s.

The first true DPICM was the 155 mm M483, produced in the 1970s. By 1975 an improved version the M483A1 was being used. The projectile carried 88 M42/M46 grenade like dual purpose submunitions. The 155 mm M864 projectile entered production in 1987, and featured a base bleed that enhances the range of the projectile, although it still carries the same M42/M46 grenades. The base bleed mechanism reduces the submunition load to 72. Work was budgeted in 2003 to retrofit the M42/M46 grenades with self-destruct fuzes to reduce the problem of "dud" submunitions.

Work on 105 mm projectiles started in the late 1990s based around the M80 submunition. The results were two shells, the M915 intended for use with the M119A1 light towed howitzer, and the M916, developed for the M101/M102 howitzers.

Uses
DPICM submunitions were developed for several reasons:


 * they give heavy, indirect-fire cannon the ability to engage area targets, with the spread compensating for their inherent inaccuracy;


 * with DPICM, artillery can be used against armored and mechanized formations with greater effect, being capable of destroying armor without having to resort to ATGWs like the Copperhead laser-guided round;


 * due to their combined spread and airburst, they are more capable against dug-in troops than conventional HE rounds.

Future
Due to the high failure rate of DPICM munitions and accuracy of GPS guided weapons, DPICM artillery shells and missiles have fallen out of favor with the U.S. military. As a result, the large quantities of munitions bought during the Cold War were put into war reserve stockpiles. However, most are now reaching the end of their shelf life and need to be disposed of. This means the warheads, which are now old and less stable, must be extracted. Instead of scrapping the leftover materials, the shells are being refilled with explosives, recycling them for use as inexpensive training ammunition.

The U.S. Army is seeking a replacement of DPICM munitions from the Alternative Warhead Program (AWP). The AWP warhead will have equal or greater effect against materiel and personnel targets, while leaving no unexploded ordnance behind. The program is being developed by Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems.