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Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, all of which are considered "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons.
VX is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound in the organophosphorus class, specifically, a thiophosphonate. In the class of nerve agents, it was developed for military use in chemical warfare after translation of earlier discoveries of organophosphate toxicity in pesticide research. In recent years, VX was found to be the agent used in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. In its pure form, VX is an oily, relatively non-volatile liquid that is amber-like in colour. Because of its low volatility, VX persists in environments where it is dispersed.
The M687 was an American 155 mm binary sarin chemical artillery shell. The design was standardized in 1976 and production began on December 16, 1987 at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Production was halted three years later, following the 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord between the United States and the USSR, and the dismantling of existing stocks began in November 1997 at Hawthorne Army Depot, Nevada. America's remaining stocks were stored at the Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah, and the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Many nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon agents despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them. Most states have joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which required the destruction of all chemical weapons by 2012. Twelve nations have declared chemical weapons production facilities and six nations have declared stockpiles of chemical weapons. All of the declared production facilities have been destroyed or converted to civilian use after the treaty went into force.
The Edgewood Chemical Activity was a U.S. Army site located in Edgewood, Maryland that stored chemical weapons. Its construction was started by Ordnance Corps in November 1917 and completed in less than a year. The arsenal was to employ about 10,000 civilian and military personnel in fabrication of chemical weapons and filling gas shells with phosgene, chlorpicrin, chlorine and mustard gas. Since 1941, the U.S. Army stored approximately five percent of the nation's original chemical agent in steel ton containers, at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground.
The Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility or TOCDF, is a U.S. Army facility located at Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele County, Utah that was used for dismantling chemical weapons.
The United States Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) is a separate reporting activity of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC). Its role is to enhance national security by securely storing the remaining U.S. chemical warfare materiel stockpiles, while protecting the work force, the public and the environment to the maximum extent.
Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) is a U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command storage facility for conventional munitions and chemical weapons. The facility is located in east central Kentucky, southeast of the cities of Lexington and Richmond, Kentucky. The 14,494-acre (58.66 km2) site, composed mainly of open fields and wooded areas, is used for munitions storage, repair of general supplies, and the disposal of munitions. The installation is used for the storage of conventional explosive munitions as well as assembled chemical weapons. The depot primarily is involved in industrial and related activities associated with the storage and maintenance of conventional and chemical munitions.
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.
The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a United States Army installation in Jefferson County, Arkansas, about eight miles northwest of Pine Bluff and thirty miles southeast of Little Rock.
Operation Red Hat was a United States Department of Defense movement of chemical warfare munitions from Okinawa, Japan to Johnston Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, which occurred in 1971.
The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) is a facility built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), near Richmond, Kentucky.
Isopropyl aminoethylmethyl phosphonite, also known as O-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) O′-ethyl methylphosphonite, is a precursor chemical to the nerve agent VX and VR-56. It is a colorless liquid with a strong fishy odor, and is slightly soluble in water.
Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) was the U.S. Army's first chemical munitions disposal facility. It was located on Johnston Island, at Johnston Atoll and completed its mission and ceased operation in 2000.
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 Weteye bomb was a U.S. chemical weapon designed for the U.S. Navy and meant to deliver the nerve agent sarin. The Weteye held 160 kg (350 lb) of liquid sarin and was officially known as the Mk 116. Stockpiles of Weteyes were transferred to Utah in the 1980s amidst controversy and protest.
The last chemical weapon in the U.S. stockpile was destroyed July 7, 2023, at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.
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.
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.
References
- 1 2 "U.S. Army Completes Chemical Stockpile Destruction at Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility" Archived 2011-01-09 at the Wayback Machine (news release), U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, Nov. 15, 2010.
- ↑ "QL (Diisopropyl Aminoethylmethyl Phosphonite)". US Army.
- ↑ Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Archived 2011-09-22 at the Wayback Machine
