The XM-736 8-inch projectile was a
binary howitzer
The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere
* Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number
* Round number, ending with one or more zeroes
* Round (crypt ...
that was designed to carry the nerve agent
VX.
[Adams, Robert W.]
CHEMICAL WARFARE IN FUTURE MILITARY OPERATIONS
, Command and Staff College, United States Navy, via ''Globalsecurity.org'', April 6, 1984, accessed January 3, 2009. After the suspension of the testing in 1982, models indicated the shell could be unstable in flight due to the liquid properties of VX.
[D'Amico, William P., Jr. "Comments on the Flight Stability of the XM736 8-Inch Binary Projectile",]
Abstract/Citation
, October 1982, accessed January 3, 2009. However, instabilities were not observed during earlier testing, and it is unknown if instabilities in the shell were ever found.
References
{{U.S. chemical weapons
Chemical weapon delivery systems
Chemical weapons of the United States