Article

2003-03-10 Iraq

UN finds Iraqi missile designed to strew chemical bomblets

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Posted by Steve 2003-03-10 09:01 am|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Using a cluster bomb to disperse bio agents is pretty iffy. The heat of the blast will neutrallize much of the bio and any left after that will have unpredictable dispersal. Chem could withstand the heat better but it would still be iffy. If the idea of using them is to instill panic in civilian population, it might work, but not much of a military use.

Posted by mhw 2003-03-10 10:32:19|| 2003-03-10 10:32:19|| Front Page Top

#2 Depends on the fuse, I'd say. A small fuse, spreading the balls out at altitude, probably wouldn't harm the WMD. It's why fireworks work, they don't go off in one big boom, but at timed intervals because the original dispersal explosion isn't very large.

Posted by Chuck 2003-03-10 11:16:26|| [blog.simmins.org] 2003-03-10 11:16:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Agree with you Chuck about the fuse, however, biological agents are, as a rule, way more sensitive than chemical agents. Also, to have enough chemical agents to do serious killing you have to have a lot of the chemical. Even mustard gas only kills if you have a lot of it and it isn't dispersed too fast by the wind.

Posted by mhw 2003-03-10 12:14:27|| 2003-03-10 12:14:27|| Front Page Top

#4 I think the idea is that the bomblets would have a very tiny charge in the center of the bomblet to propel the agent out of the holes in the bomb. You would have a seal or barrier between the charge and the agent, something like the wadding on a shotgun shell. Bomblet lands or goes off with a time delay in the air and "poof", you get a small cloud of vapor or powder in the air. Cluster bombs would be a good way to dispurse a bio agent or toxin this way.

Posted by Steve 2003-03-10 14:09:10|| 2003-03-10 14:09:10|| Front Page Top

#5 There are pictures of these on the Fox News website. They report:
But officials told Fox News that the weapons are not rockets, but large bombs that can be dropped from wings of airplanes. Soccer-ball-sized cluster bombs then are released from the larger bombs. When triggered by a fuse, these smaller submunitions can disperse chemical or biological agents.
These are the biggest cluster bombs I've ever seen. The only reason I can think of to make one the size of a soccer ball would be for use with chemical or bio material.

Posted by Steve 2003-03-10 14:48:23|| 2003-03-10 14:48:23|| Front Page Top

#6 Does this explain the appearances of a Mig-29 that recently challenged the southern no-fly zone? Testing to see whether they can get into a position to release these cluster bombs and then get out again?

Posted by Steve White 2003-03-10 16:31:15|| 2003-03-10 16:31:15|| Front Page Top

#7 Good point Steve, although any Iraqi pilot approaching an active fighting front has gotta assume it's a one-way ticket..the Mig 29's should never make it to our guys - bet the Iraqis on the ground will never know what killed them when the Migs are shot from the sky before they can get our forces....sad...but better them than us

Posted by Frank G 2003-03-10 21:43:25|| 2003-03-10 21:43:25|| Front Page Top

#8 But could these weapons be delivered by a drone? Would drones flying at 50-100 foot altitude be detected by AWACS or other airborne radar? Could drones carry anthrax and disperse it over a major urban area?

Posted by TJ Jackson 2003-03-11 00:25:33|| 2003-03-11 00:25:33|| Front Page Top

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