Dual-purpose improved conventional munition

A US-made M77 DPICM of the type used by the MLRS artillery rocket launcher system. The M77 was developed from the M483A1 that was developed for so-called "cargo" artillery shells in the 155 mm and 8-inch (203 mm) calibers.

A dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead designed to burst into submunitions at an optimum altitude and distance from the desired target for dense area coverage. The submunitions use both shaped charges for the anti-armor role, and fragmentation for the antipersonnel role, hence the nomenclature "dual-purpose". Some submunitions 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 by more than 100 countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.