“The original M77 has a relatively high dud rate (about 5%), and the M85 is a derivative with a self-destruct fuze to lower this rate significantly (< 1%).”
We consider 5% to be a high, unacceptable dud rate. These submunitions were reworked to improve that to less than 1%. For each rocket dispensing 544 submunitions, less than 6 would be duds on average. I think cluster munitions have gotten a bad rep overall (not that it hasn’t been deserved) but you’re right, this is apples to oranges.
This is specifically about the DPICM rounds:
https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/mlrs.html
“The original M77 has a relatively high dud rate (about 5%), and the M85 is a derivative with a self-destruct fuze to lower this rate significantly (< 1%).”
We consider 5% to be a high, unacceptable dud rate. These submunitions were reworked to improve that to less than 1%. For each rocket dispensing 544 submunitions, less than 6 would be duds on average. I think cluster munitions have gotten a bad rep overall (not that it hasn’t been deserved) but you’re right, this is apples to oranges.