The M34 cluster bomb was the first mass-produced United States Army weapon meant to deliver the
chemical agent
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
sarin (GB). A large stockpile of M34s was destroyed between 1973 and 1976.
sarin
Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.nerve agent (GB) during the 1950s the M34 cluster bomb was the first such weapon mass-produced by the Army.Smart, Jeffery K. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare '': Chapter 2 — History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective, PDF pp. 41-42), '' Borden Institute'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via
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. O ...
, accessed December 10, 2008. The weapon was the United States' first major nerve agent weapon after World War II.
Specifications
The M34 had a diameter of and a length of . This particular
cluster bomb
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 vehicl ...
was designed to carry a total weight of of sarin nerve agent, the weapon's total weight was . The M34 cluster bomb held 76
M125 bomblet
The M125 bomblet was a U.S. chemical sub-munition designed to deliver the nerve agent sarin. It was brought into service in 1954 with the M34 cluster bomb as part of the first U.S. air-delivered nerve agent weapon.
History
The M125 bomblet was a ...
sub-munitions, each of the sub-munitions held of GB. The weapons also contained a parachute, an opening delay, fuze, and a burster which held of tetryl.Mauroni, Albert J. ''Chemical Demilitarization: Public Policy Aspects'', Google Books , Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 19, ().
Storage and disposal programs
When
Operation Cut Holes and Sink 'Em Operation CHASE (an acronym for "Cut Holes And Sink 'Em") was a United States Department of Defense program for the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 until the early 1970s.Kurak, Steve "Operation Chase" ''United States Naval Instit ...
(CHASE) was cancelled the Army had to scrap a plan to dump more than 20,000 M34 cluster bombs at sea. In 1972 there were still more than 21,000 M34 cluster munitions stored at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, near Denver, Colorado. Between 1973 and 1976 the Army began destroying these munitions under the auspices of Project Eagle. To dispose of the munitions the Army drained the Sarin from the bomblets, mixed it with a caustic inside a reactor chamber, and spray-dried the
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
. Project Eagle resulted in the demilitarization and destruction of about of Sarin and of the spray-dried salt. The salt was stored in 18,000 steel and fiberboard drums and placed in a toxic storage site at Rocky Mountain Arsenal.Natural Resource Trustees for the State of Colorado. ''Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Commerce City, Colorado'', Site Description , October 24, 2007, p. 9, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, accessed December 10, 2008.