I dunno, it just seems like the delay on the bomblets was too long. And also that a fragmentation round could have gotten them all without leaving unexploded ordinance all over the place.
Times how many hundreds of shells? With bomblets sitting around for decades after.
And how many survived that hit, as opposed to a similar fragmentation strike? A few survivors aren't actually a bad thing in a lot of cases too. They require resources to care for, draining man power that's already stretched thin.
It just strikes me as a less than efficient weapon choice. I'd be curious to see it compared to air burst flechette rounds in effectiveness.
I agree with your points. Demining and EOD in eastern and southern Ukraine could take decades. Cluster munitions will hopefully be a stop-gap, and not the new norm.