The M55 rocket was a chemical weapon developed by the United States in the 1950s. The United States Army produced both Sarin and VX unitary warheads for the M55.
The M55 rocket was a chemical weapon developed by the United States in the 1950s. The United States Army produced both Sarin and VX unitary warheads for the M55.
In 1951 the US Army Chemical Corps and Ordnance Corps initiated a joint program to develop a 115mm chemical rocket. The US Army Ordnance Corps designed the 115mm T238 and launcher in 1957 to provide the army a means to attack large area targets with chemical agents. Artillery and mortars are for small area targets; and due to different spin stabilities, warheads intended for explosives are not ideal for chemical delivery. The 115mm rocket was subsequently accepted as the M55 rocket with M91 launcher. Produced from 1959–1965, [1] the M55s were manufactured at Newport Army Ammunition Plant and tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground. [2] The Army produced unitary warheads filled with Sarin (GB) and VX nerve agents for the M55. [3]
During the 1960s the Army stored many M55s at Black Hills Army Depot. [2] The M55 was also stored at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and in Okinawa, Japan. [2] The rockets in Japan were moved to Johnston Atoll during Operation Red Hat where they were destroyed during the 1990s.
Disposal operations for the M55 are made more difficult because of the rocket's design. [1] The rocket propellant was a double base composition nitroglycerin (NG) and nitrocellulose (NC) propellant. [2] Besides the NG and NC, M28 contains 2-nitrodiphenylamine (NDPA) as a stabilizer. [4] The rocket propellant cannot be removed from the warhead without cutting open the rocket. [5]
The propellant itself presents a hazard, because it becomes unstable as it ages. [6] Specifically, the danger of autoignition is present as the stabilizer ages and becomes depleted. [7] The U.S. National Research Council and other sources called the M55 the most dangerous weapon in the American chemical arsenal because of this and other hazards. [6] [7]
Another danger is agent leakage. Army reports have indicated that nerve agent GB can corrode the metal casings of the munitions over time. [1] As Sarin decomposes it forms acids which can corrode the aluminum casings found around the agent in the M55. [6] [8] M55 rockets containing GB have accounted for the majority of leaking American chemical weapons. [6] In mid-2002, over 4,000 munitions in the U.S. chemical stockpile were found to be leaking agent; of that number 2,102 were Sarin-containing M55s. [8]
The M55 is 78 inches (2,000 mm) long and 4.44 inches (113 mm) in diameter. The 57-pound (26 kg) weapons can hold warheads filled with about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of GB or VX. [2] The warhead comprises about 15 pounds (6.8 kg) total, and consists of several components. The M34 and M36 Burster utilize composition B or tetrytol and total about 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of the total weapon weight. The agent, as stated, comprises about ten pounds (4.5 kilograms) of the weight with the rest lying in the casing and M417 fuze. [2]
Cyclosarin or GF is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical weapons discovered and synthesized by a German team led by Dr. Gerhard Schrader. The major nerve gases are the G agents, sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), and the V agents such as VX. The original agent, tabun, was discovered in Germany in 1936 in the process of work on organophosphorus insecticides. Next came sarin, soman and finally, cyclosarin, a product of commercial insecticide laboratories prior to World War II.
Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) is a major United States Army facility for the production and repair of ground combat vehicles, overhaul of Small Arms Weapon Systems and the storage of chemical weapons, a.k.a. the Anniston Chemical Activity. The depot is located in Bynum, Alabama.
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Anniston Chemical Activity was a U.S. Army chemical weapon storage site located in Alabama. The Army had stored approximately seven percent of the nation’s original chemical weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot since the early 1960s. In August 2003, the Army began disposing of these weapons at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Destruction of the base's stockpile of VX was begun on July 23, 2006. By December 2008, all of the VX on site had been destroyed. Destruction of mustard-filled munitions began on July 2, 2009 after several months of retooling. By July 2010, it had destroyed by incineration 75% of the depot's total stockpile including all 437 tons of GB (sarin) and all VX nerve agent on site. On September 22, 2011, the last mustard gas shells were burned, completing chemical weapons disposal at the facility. The facilities were scheduled for dismantlement by about 2013 and some of the weapon-handling equipment was planned for transfer to the depots at Kentucky and Colorado. Local government emergency departments are expecting to lose millions in annual funding from the federal government related to the presence of the chemical depot and as many as 1000 jobs will be cut on the base. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers the disposal and closure of Anniston Chemical Activity were completed on May 7, 2013. Following the closure, other uses for the incinerators were explored, but ultimately they were demolished.
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The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives is responsible for the safe and environmentally sound destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky and the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, Colorado. In 1996, the United States Congress established the ACWA program to test and demonstrate alternative technologies to baseline incineration for the destruction of chemical weapons. The ACWA program oversaw the design and construction of the two chemical weapons destruction pilot plants – the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) in Colorado, and the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) in Kentucky. Today, PCAPP and BGCAPP are in the operations phase. PEO ACWA will oversee both plants through operations and closure.
Throughout history, chemical weapons have been used as strategic weaponry to devastate the enemy in times of war. After the mass destruction created by WWI and WWII, chemical weapons have been considered to be inhumane by most nations, and governments and organizations have undertaken to locate and destroy existing chemical weapons. However, not all nations have been willing to cooperate with disclosing or demilitarizing their inventory of chemical weapons. Since the start of the worldwide efforts to destroy all existing chemical weapons, some nations and terrorist organizations have used and threatened the use of chemical weapons to leverage their position in conflict. A notable example includes the use of such weapons by the US government that sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide. Other examples of the use of chemical weapons are Iraq’s Saddam Hussein on the Kurdish village Halabja in 1988 and their employment against civilian passengers of the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo in 1995. The efforts made by the United States and other chemical weapon destruction agencies intend to prevent such use, but this is a difficult and ongoing effort. Aside from the difficulties of cooperation and locating chemical weapons, the methods to destroy the weapons and to do this safely are also a challenge.
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 weapon "or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Munitions or other delivery devices designed to deliver chemical weapons, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered weapons themselves."
The United States chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with the creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the country's practical adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1986 and was completed on July 7, 2023. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD), at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, continues to operate.
