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E61 Anthrax Bomblet
The E61 anthrax bomblet was an American biological sub-munition for the E133 cluster bomb. This anti-personnel weapon was developed in the early 1950s and carried 35 milliliters of anthrax spores or another pathogen. History Around October 1953 the United States Air Force reoriented its biological warfare program. One result of this, in anti-personnel weaponry, was a move away from weapons such as the M33 cluster bomb to the lethal E61 anthrax bomb.Whitby, Simon M. ''Biological Warfare Against Crops'',Google Books, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 114-15, (). The E61 was first developed in January 1951 as both an anti-personnel and anti-animal weapon capable of being clustered and dropped from a medium height.Endicott, Stephen Lyon and Hagerman, Edward. ''The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea'',Google Books, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 72, (). On March 5, 1954 a directive from the U.S. Department of Defense altered the course of the U.S. bio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sub-munition
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions, such as leaflets. Because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area, they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove. Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M114 Bomb
The M114 bomb was a four-pound U.S. anti-personnel bomb and biological cluster bomb sub-munition. The M114 was used in the M33 cluster bomb. History The M114 was a sub-munition for the M33 cluster bomb, as such, it was the first standardized U.S. biological weapon in 1952.Croddy, Eric and Wirtz, James J. ''Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History'',Google Books, ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 75, (), accessed November 13, 2008. The M114 was an improved version of a British World War II-era bomblet that was designed to disperse anthrax.Kirby, Reid.The CB Battlefield Legacy: Understanding the Potential Problem of Clustered CB Weapons", ''Army Chemical Review'', pp. 25-29, July–December 2006, accessed November 12, 2008. Specifications The M114 was similar to a pipe bomb, it had a tube with a diameter of . 108 M114s were clustered into the M33 cluster bomb;Smart, Jeffery K. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare'': Chapter 2 - Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M143 Bomblet
The M143 bomblet was a biological cluster bomb sub-munition developed by the United States during the 1960s. The spherical bomblet was the biological version of the Sarin-filled M139 chemical bomblet. History The M143 bomblet was produced at the peak of U.S. biological delivery systems development during the 1960s. Essentially a biological version of the M139 bomblet, the M143 was smaller than the M139.Smart, Jeffery K. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare'': Chapter 2 - History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective,PDF p. 51), '' Borden Institute'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, accessed November 12, 2008. The Sergeant missile system utilized the M143 in its M210 warhead, which could hold 720 individual bomblets. If that system released the bomblets at an altitude of , the weapon could attain a coverage area of 60 square miles. Specifications The M143 was a spherical bomblet that had a diameter of 8.6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flettner Rotor Bomblet
The Flettner rotor bomblet was a U.S. biological sub-munition that was never mass-produced. Based on the vertical Flettner rotor which takes advantage of the Magnus effect, a force acting on a spinning body in a moving airstream, it was developed toward the end of the United States biological weapons program, U.S. biological weapons program in the 1960s. History The Flettner rotor biological bomblet was an experimental cluster bomb sub-munition developed by the United States Army, U.S. Army during the 1960s,Eitzen, Edward M. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare'': Chapter 20 - Use of Biological Weapons,PDF p. 5), ''Borden Institute'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, accessed November 16, 2008. as the U.S. Biological warfare, biological weapons program neared its end. The weapon was never standardized or mass-produced.Croddy, Eric and Wirtz, James J. ''Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E14 Munition
The E14 munition was a cardboard sub-munition (air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject smaller submunitions) developed by the United States biological weapons program as an anti-crop weapon. In a series of field tests in 1955, the E14 was loaded with fleas and air-dropped. History The E14 munition was developed by the United States for use in its offensive biological warfare arsenal as an anti-crop weapon. After the Korean War U.S. interest in large-scale entomological warfare increased. The E14 was one of two sub-munitions used in large-scale testing aimed at learning the feasibility and result of an air-dropped insect attack. In September 1954, at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the E14 was again used in a series of tests known as "Operation Big Itch". During Big Itch, uninfected rat fleasThe rat flea is a known vector for bubonic plague. See: Trivedi, "Xenopsylla cheopis". (''Xenopsylla cheopis'') were loaded into the E14 and air-dropped over the proving ground. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E120 Bomblet
The E120 bomblet was a biological cluster bomb sub-munition developed to disseminate a liquid biological agent. The E120 was developed by the United States in the early 1960s. History The E120 bomblet was one of several biological weapons that were developed before the United States abandoned its offensive biological warfare program in 1969–1970.Eitzen, Edward M. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare'': Chapter 20 - Use of Biological Weapons,PDF p. 6), ''Borden Institute'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, accessed November 12, 2008. The E120 was developed in the early 1960s. The Schu S-4 strain of the tularemia Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium '' Francisella tularensis''. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat i ... bacterium was standardized as Agent UL for use in the E120 bomblet.Pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Occupying the site of the first Wright Flying School, it was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell, a native of Atmore, Alabama. The base is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is the 42d Air Base Wing (42 ABW). The Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing (908 AW) is a tenant unit and the only operational flying unit at Maxwell. The 908 AW and its subordinate 357th Airlift Squadron (357 AS) operates eight C-130H Hercules aircraft for theater airlift in support of combatant commanders worldwide. As an AFRC airlift unit, the 908th i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borden Institute
The Borden Institute is a U.S. Army “Center of Excellence in Military Medical Research and Education”. In 1987, U.S. Army Colonel Russ Zajtchuk conceived the idea for a “Center of Excellence in Military Medical Research and Education,” under the Army's Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG). The center was soon made a reality, largely through the efforts of Zajtchuk, Dr. Don Jenkins, and Colonel Ron Bellamy. In 1992, to honor Lieutenant Colonel William Cline Borden (Major Walter Reed’s personal physician and conceiver of the original Walter Reed General Hospital) the center’s name was changed to Borden Institute. The institute was located at Delano Hall on the campus of Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), in Washington, DC. After WRAMC's closure, the institute moved to Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endospore
An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria in the phylum Bacillota. The name "endospore" is suggestive of a spore or seed-like form (''endo'' means 'within'), but it is not a true spore (i.e., not an offspring). It is a stripped-down, dormant form to which the bacterium can reduce itself. Endospore formation is usually triggered by a lack of nutrients, and usually occurs in gram-positive bacteria. In endospore formation, the bacterium divides within its cell wall, and one side then engulfs the other. Endospores enable bacteria to lie dormant for extended periods, even centuries. There are many reports of spores remaining viable over 10,000 years, and revival of spores millions of years old has been claimed. There is one report of viable spores of '' Bacillus marismortui'' in salt crystals approximately 250 million years old. When the environment becomes more favorable, the endospore can reactivate itself into a vegetative state. Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that often turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain and shortness of breath. The intestinal form presents with diarrhea (which may contain blood), abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting. The injection form presents with fever and an abscess at the site of drug injection. According to the USA's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first clinical descriptions of cutaneous anthrax were given by Maret in 1752 and Fournier in 1769. Before that anthrax had been described only through historical accounts. The Prussian scientist Robert Koch (1843–1910) was the first to identify ''Bacillus anthracis'' as the bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ. The term ''pathogen'' came into use in the 1880s. Typically, the term ''pathogen'' is used to describe an ''infectious'' microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan, prion, viroid, or fungus. Small animals, such as helminths and insects, can also cause or transmit disease. However, these animals are usually referred to as parasites rather than pathogens. The scientific study of microscopic organisms, including microscopic pathogenic organisms, is called microbiology, while parasitology refers to the scientific study of parasites and the organisms that host them. There are several pathways through which pathogens can invade a host. The principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil has the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Cirincione
Joseph Cirincione (, (born November 13, 1949) is a national security analyst and author. He served as the president of the Ploughshares Fund, a public grant-making foundation focused on nuclear nonproliferation and conflict resolution. Career Cirincione was appointed president of Ploughshares Fund on March 5, 2008. He retired from the position on July 1, 2020. He joined the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft as a non-resident fellow in September 2020, and is an adjunct faculty member at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He resigned from the Quincy Institute in August 2022 in protest of its dovish response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he described as "a completely unjustified, unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state". He is the author or editor of seven books, including ''Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late'' (Columbia University Press, 2013), ''Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons'' (Colum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
