Cost is not the immediate issue: time is. The ammo required takes time to manufacture. Russia is not going to wait.

Whether that justifies cluster ammunition no idea. An audit would be enlightening for sure. Unfortunately, none of that results in ammo where it’s needed right now.

Good article but they didn’t need the sensationalist title. “often” implies >50% in common discourse. The cited rate is 14.8%. terrible, but not often. Downvoted, unfortunately.

Edit: as comments below, and some searching online: “often” is subjective. So no, does not imply “>50% in common discourse”