Semtex is clearly the explosive of choice by international terrorist groups for two reasons. First it is easily available and cost effective. It is considered by many to the best plastic explosive in the world. Semtex uses a crystalline high explosive, combined with a binder of a synthetic styrene-butadiene rubber binder which produces an odorless consistency of Silly Putty or Play Dough. Semtex was invented by Stanislav Brebera who studied at the Prague Technical University and Prague’s Military Technical Institute and in 1950 at the Synthesia chemical company. Although plastic explosives were initially developed
in 1887 by Alfred Nobel and later used in the Second World War; Semtex hit the world stage in 1966 with its introduction to Viet Nam by the Communist. Brebera had joined the Communist party in 1945 in Czechoslovakia.
Semtex got its name from Semtin, the village in East Bohemia where Brebera invented it. This extraordinarily stable compound of RDX (Cyclonite) and PETN (Penaerythrite Tetranitrate) slips through airport security scans as easily as a pair of nylons. According to the FBI, Semtex has an indefinite shelf life and is far stronger than traditional explosives such as TNT. It is also easily available on the black market. The Czech government has since taken control of the plant that produces Semtex in hopes of controlling the distribution but most security analyst see this as political window dressing after 9-11. It was revealed in 1989 that the Czechs had exported 900 tons of Semtex to Col. Moammar Qaddafi's Libya and another 1,000 tons to other unstable states, such as Syria, North Korea, Iraq, and Iran. Some experts now put worldwide stockpiles of Semtex at 40,000 tons. After the Lockerbie tragedy, Brebera added metal components and a distinct odor to make Semtex easier to detect. Although the Czech government officially monitors all Semtex sales, there has been a string of sales to Yugoslavia, Iraq, and North Korea.
Composition “C”
Composition C is a plastic demolition explosive consisting of RDX, other explosives and plasticizers. It can be molded by hand for use in demolition work and packed by hand into shaped charge devices. Although compositions C-3 and C-4 are the only formulations presently being used, C-1 and C-2 may still be encountered.
My first exposure to Plastic Explosives came when I joined the Marine Corps in 1963 and had an opportunity to see a demonstration of Composition C-3 at Camp Pendelton. At the time, I was told Composition C-3 had the same uses of TNT but was more powerful and had the advantage of being “easily molded for demolition”. Over the years a lot has changed but it’s interesting to see a lot of things remain the same particularly when talking about the uses of plastic explosives.
TNT
TNT (Trinitrotoluene) is a constituent of many explosives such as amatol, pentolite, tetrytol, torpex, tritonal, picratol, ednatol, and composition B. It has been used under such names as Triton, Trotly, Trilite, Trinol and Tritolo. TNT is considered to be a “stable” high explosive and not easily susceptible to shock. TNT is typically used by the military in high explosive shells and bombs.
RDX
RDX (Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine) is also known as cyclonite or hexogen. RDX is a white crystalline solid usually used in mixtures with other explosives, oils, waxes. It is one of the components used in the RPG-7 warhead. It is very stable and considered to be one of the most powerful military explosives. RDX compositions are mixtures of RDX, other explosive ingredients, and desensitizers or plasticizers. When combined with other explosives, RDX forms the basis for Composition A, Composition B, Composition C, HBS, H-6 and Cyclotol. RDX is the explosive of choice for suicide bombers. An Iraqi woman in Jordan failed to detonate her explosive belt of RDX in November 05.
Composition “A”
Composition A is a was-coated, granular explosive consisting of RDX and plasticizing was. Composition A is used by the military in land mines and 2.75 and 5 inch rockets.
Composition “B”
Composition B consists of RDX and TNT and desensitizing agents are added. Composition B is used by the military in land mines, rockets and projectiles.
HBX
HBX 1 and HBX 3 are binary (have to be combined to form a reaction) explosives that are mixtures of RDX, TNT, powdered aluminum, and D-2 wax with calcium chloride. These explosives are used in missile warheads and underwater ordnance.
H-6
H-6 is a binary explosive that is a mixture of RDX, TNT, powered aluminum, and D-2 wax with calcium chloride added. H-6 is used by the military for general purpose bombs.
Cyclotol
Cyclotol is manufactured in three formulations by varying mixture of percentages of RDX and TNT. Cyclotol is used for shaped-charge bombs, special fragmentation projectiles and grenades.
Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonium Nitrate (fertilizer) The purpose of including Ammonium Nitrate in the discussion of Explosives is to point out that a domestic or international terrorist does not need to obtain any of the earlier mentioned sophisticated explosive compounds to create a major terrorist event. In October almost 200 people were killed in Bali by a bomb, experts believe to contain Ammonium Nitrate, and the Philippines have banned imports of the fertilizer to prevent it being used as a raw material to make bombs. Prior to September 11, the most destructive terrorist event in the United States occurred in 1995 with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City which killed 168 men, women and children. It is generally believed that Timothy McVeigh used Ammonium Nitrate with 3 drums of nitro methane, a commercially available racing fuel.
Biological
Bio-terrorism like any other form of terrorism is a real threat. As with any other form of terrorism, a major component of the threat is psychological. If we can better understand the threat and how to combat it we have made considerable progress toward dealing with the threat.
A Biological Agent is defined as: living organisms, including viruses and infected materials derived from them, produced for germ warfare against plants, animals or human beings. They cannot be readily detected by our physical senses. Following are some of the potential threats you should be aware of:
Abrin: toxin.
African Swine Fever: anti-animal virus causing hog cholera.
Animal venom: toxins gained from cobra and other snakes, scorpion, wasp, shellfish, etc.
Anthrax: (Bacillus anthraces) a blood-poisoning disease of cattle and sheep caused by a bacillus which affects people through inhalation and can be lethal (anthrax pulmonary). It is about 10 times more toxic than plutonium. It is not contagious and the victim must be directly exposed to it. Anthrax has an incubation period of 1-6 days. Symptoms are fever, malaise, fatigue, coughing and mild chest discomfort, followed by severe respiratory distress. The initial symptoms are often followed by a short period of improvement (from several hours to 2-3 days). In cases with severe symptoms, shock and death can occur within 24-36 hours. Mortality rate is said to be 80 percent. The germ spores can survive for more than four decades in the soil. It is generally treatable with antibiotictics and a vaccine exists. Without antibiotics, death from hemorrhage, respiratory failure or toxic shock follows within a few days. Anthrax can be augmented by fermentation. A dozen countries are believed to have the capability of using anthrax in weapons. A 1993 study for the US Congress' Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) found that a Scud missile loaded with anthrax could kill 10,000 people in an urban area. (Electronic Telegraph, 31 August 1997). According to Kanatjan Alibekov (Ken Alibek), a Soviet defector, the Soviet Union in 1988 ordered the arming of giant SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago with anthrax and other deadly germs. Anthrax organisms can cause infection in the skin, gastrointestinal system, or the lungs. To do, so the organism must be rubbed into abraded skin, swallowed, or inhaled as a fine, aerosolized mist. Disease can be prevented after exposure to the anthrax spores by early treatment with the appropriate antibiotics. Anthrax is not spread from one person to another person. For anthrax to be effective as a covert agent, it must be aerosolized into very small particles. This is difficult to do, and requires a great deal of technical skill and special equipment. If these small particles are inhaled, life-threatening lung infection can occur, but prompt recognition and treatment are effective.
Aspergillus flavus: produced the toxin Aflatoxin, which causes cancer.
Avian influenza virus: animal pathogen agent.
Bacillary dysentery: caused by Shigella dysenteriae.
Bacteria: used for biological warfare, either as is or in freeze-dried or encapsulated form before dispersion by aero-sol.
Bananabunchy top virus: pathogenic plant virus.
Batrachotoxin: poison derived from South American toad.
Belladonna: plant-derived poison.
Biological weapons: Among the about 60 known biological micro-organisms suitable for incapacitating an opponent in acts of biological warfare are bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae and protozoa. They tend to be more lethal than toxic chemical materials but less lethal than nuclear weapons (10 grams of anthrax are said to have the same lethality as 1,000 kilograms of Sarin, under optimal dispersion conditions). They are based on biologically produced toxins or pathogenic infectious organisms causing flu-like illnesses, often leading to death after an incubation period of a few days. Small quantities, if dispersed a certain way at night (or micro-encapsulated to prevent oxygen, dryness or light disableling the substance), can create several tens of thou-sands of victims. A more advanced biological weapon is judged to be able to kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people. Detection and containment of epidemic contagion are major problems due to the delayed onset of clear symptoms. Biological agents can also be used against animals and crops. They are generally not effectively transmitted by water. Vectors are animals or aerosols.
Bioregulators: A new class of weapons that can damage the nervous system, alter moods, trigger psychological changes and even kill. They cannot be traced by pathologists. A Soviet programme called "Flute" once worked on germs and other agents that could be used mainly for political assassinations, according to Kanatjan Alibekov, a Soviet defector.
Bluetongue virus: animal pathogenic agent.
Botulin: causes botulism; this very toxic poison is made from Clostridium botulinum.
Brucella suis and Brucella melitensis: biological warfare agent developed by the US. It causes brucellosis (undulant fever).
BTX (Type A Botulinal Toxin): biological neurotoxic agent of extreme lethality (more than a thousandfold greater than anthrax) It is obtained from the clostridium botulinum bacteria, the most lethal poison in nature. It is said to be 16 million times more powerful than strychnine and 10,000 times more powerful than cobra poison. Eight ounces of the substance, distributed systematically, are said to be able to kill every living creature on the planet. BTX is produced by a living organism; its use does not depend on infecting the victim with the living organism, but is based on the indigestion or inhalation of the chemical substance associated with BTX.
Chikunggunya virus: biological agent.
Cholera: disease caused by Vibrio comma toxin.
Clostridium botulinum: a food-poisoning bacteria causing botulism, coming in seven varieties of which type A is the deadliest; also found with non-state actors such as the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo sect.
Clostridium perfringens: biological agent.
Clostridium tetani: biological agent.
Coccidioides immitis: agent causing Coccidioidomycosis.
Cochliobolus miyabeanus (Helminthosporium oryzae): pathogenic plant fungus.
Colletotrichum coffeanum var. virulans: pathogenic fungus.
Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever virus: biological agent.
Conotoxin: certain type of poison.
Corynebacterium dipheteriae: causes diphtheria.
Coxiella burnetii: biological agent found with the Japanese Aum sect.
Dengue fever virus: biological agent (has been investigated for its suitability for biological warfare by the United States).
Deuterophoma tracheiphilia (syn.Phoma tracheipl. hila): pathogenic plant fungus.
Eastern equine encephalitis virus: biological agent causing brain tissue infection.
Ebola virus: biological agent; Marburg-like virus which Aum Shinrikyo tried to acquire in 1991 when cult leader Shoko Asahara led an expedition to Zaire. According to Soviet defector Ken Alibek, Russian bio-weapon researchers may have created a recombinant Ebola-Smallpox, grafting a DNA copy of the disease-causing parts of Ebola into smallpox, thereby combining the hemorrhages caused by Ebola with the high contagion of smallpox.
Elatericine: plant-derived poison.
Endotheline: a blood vessel contracting natural substance discovered in 1988 in Japan, easy to synthesize. Considered to be one of the biggest threats to the conventions against chemical and biological weapons.
Enterohaemorrhagic Escheichia coli 0157: biological agent.
Francisella tularensis (Pasteurella tularensis): bacteria causing infectious rabbit disease, used by Japan in the Second World War; developed into a biological weapon by the US.
Foot-and-mouth disease virus: anti-animal agent.
Fowl plague: anti-animal agent.
Genetically engineered organisms: genetic targeting of cert-ain ethnic groups only is considered a possibility. Bacteria or viruses treated in specific ways which could affect the gene-tic structure of human cells or activate a standard germ. Due to the delayed action of genetic targeting, it is judged to be difficult to establish causality and recognize an attack as such. Genetic warfare is a fearful prospect.
Genetically modified micro-organisms: genetically-modified micro-organisms or genetic elements that contain nucleic acid sequences associated with pathogenicity.
Goat pox virus: animal pathogen.
Hantaan virus: biological agent.
Herpes virus: animal pathogen causing Aujesky's disease.
Histoplasma capsulatum: causes histoplasmosis.
HIV: Ape-to-man transmitted human immunodeficiency virus: causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Usually transmitted via blood or sexual intercourse. A 1997 report by a French physician examining the health of soldiers in seven Central African armies found that 50 per cent of them are HIV-positive or have AIDS. Given the use of rape for ethnic cleansing and terror, infected soldiers and mercenaries with AIDS are themselves biological agents.
Hog cholera: anti-animal agent.
Influenza: flu, a viral infection of the respiratory tract,co-mes in three variants (A,B,C,). Type A influenza caused the Spanish flu in 1918, killing 20 million people in a few months -- twice as many as in four years of war.
Kyasanur Forest virus: biological agent.
Japanese B encephalitis virus: biological agent causing brain membrane inflammation.
Junin virus: biological agent.
Lassa Fever virus: biological agent; causing very contagious disease originating from Nigeria. It is a potential biological agent.
Legionella pneumophila: (Legionnaires' disease) biological agent growing in warm water, discovered in mid-1970s.
Louping ill virus: biological agent.
Lymphocytic chorimeningitis virus: biological agent, causing inflammation of brain tissue.
Machupo virus: biological agent.
Marburg virus: a potential germ weapon (variant U), a germ developed but not weaponized by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Microcyclus ulei (syn.Dothidella ulei): pathogenic plant fungus.
Micro-organisms: Bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi and protozoa are categories of organisms used in biological warfare.
Monilia rorei (syn. Moniliophthora rorei): pathogenic plant fungus.
Monkey pox virus: biological agent.
Murray Valley encephalitis virus: biological agent causing inflammation of brain tissue.
Mycoplasma mycoides: pathogenic animal bacteria.
Newcastle disease: anti-animal agent.
Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus: biological agent.
Oropouche virus: biological agent.
Plague: a highly contagious disease. A defecting Soviet scientist, Vladimir Pasechnik alleged to British and US intelligence that Soviet scientists had developed a genetically engineered multi-drug-resistant strain of Pneumonic Plague.
Peste des petite ruminants virus: animal pathogen.
Porcine enterovirus type 9: Swine vesicular disease virus.
Powassan virus: biological agent.
Psittacosis: parrot fever.
Puccinia gramisis (syn. Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici): pathogenic plant fungus used as a biological weapon by the United States for destroying wheat harvest.
Puccinia striiformis (syn Puccinia glumarum): pathogenic plant fungus.
Pyricularia oryzea: rice blast. fungus causing "plague" in rice crops, developed by the United States.
Q-fever: caused by coxiella burnetti.
Ricin: Poison derived from the beans of the castor oil plant and developed as a toxic weapon during the Second World War. Fast-working biological toxin, it decomposes rapidly, making it a hard-to-detect weapon for assassinations. On 5 January 2003 6 men were arrested in London for possession of this poison. Castor oil beans and equipment and containers for crushing the beans were found at their flat. To take effect, the toxin must enter the body by direct ingestion, inhalation or injection meaning it is more associated with assassination. The most notable Ricin case was the 1978 murder of the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. The KGB were suspected to be behind the killing, initiated on London's Waterloo Bridge using a poison tipped umbrella. Ricin is considered a potential bio-warfare or bio-terrorist agent and is on the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's "B" list of agents -- considered a moderate threat. Large quantities were reportedly found in caves in Afghanistan. It is relatively easy to manufacture in small amounts.
Rickettsiae: class of biological agents including Japanese encephalitis virus and coxiella burnetii, rickettsia quintana (also known as Rchalimea quintana) and rickettsia prowasecki.
Rickettsia (Coxiella burnetti): parasitic living bacteria which causes the long-lasting Q fever. It is similar to typhus and is spread by ticks.
Rickettsia rickettsii: spread by wood ticks, causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Rift Valley fever virus: biological agent.
Rinderpest: anti-animal agent.
Rocio virus: biological agent.
Russian Spring-Summer encephalitis virus: tick-borne encephalitis virus causing inflammation of brain tissue.
Rye stem rust (puccinia graminus secalis): anticrop agent.
San Joaquin Valley fever: desert fever caused by coccidioido-mycosis.
Saxitoxin: poison (allegedly used by US CIA) derived from mussels.
SEB: Staphylococcus entero-toxine B: poison derived from Staphylococcus aureus.
Sheep pox virus: animal pathogen.
Shiga toxin: a natural poison as toxic as botulinum.
Slostridium perfringens toxin: biological agent.
Smallpox: cowpox, a highly contagious, person-to-person transmitted variola virus. While wild smallpox was eradicated world-wide in 1977, laboratory samples continue to exist and could be reactivated and used against a younger generation not inoculated. There have been allegations that the Soviet Union experimented with use of laboratory supplies of smallpox virus as a bio-weapon.
Staphylococcus Aureus toxin: biological agent.
Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B: a food-poisoning agent.
St. Louis encephalitis virus: causes damage to brain tissue.
Teschen disease virus: animal pathogen.
Terodotoxin: biological poison agent.
Tetanus toxin: agent causing Tetanus.
Toxins: poisons derived from plants, animals and microbes which cause diseases. Examples: Botulinum toxins, Slostridium perfringens toxins, Conotoxin, Ricin, Saxitoxin, Shiga toxin, Staphylopcoccus aureus toxins, Tetrodoxins, Verotoxins and Mircrocystion (Cyanginosin).
Toxin weapons: non-contagious biological weapons which disseminate generally odorless, tasteless and invisible poisonous substances produced by living organisms.
Trichothecene mycotoxin: fungus-based toxin, allegedly used as "yellow rain", in Viet Nam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Later tests indicated that the product was probably natural droppings of honey bees.
Tularaemia: biological agent causing "rabbit-fever", a plague-like infectuous disease which causes chills, fever, muscle aches, fatigue and pneumonia-like symptoms and can be fatal. According to Soviet defector Ken Alibek, the Moscow-based company "Bioeffekt Ltd." offered three genetically engineered strains of tularaemia in the late 1990s by mail-order, touting the agent as "techologically unknown outside Russia".
Typhoid fever: caused by Salmonella typhosa.
Vectors of disease: delivery system of biological weapons, e.g. birds, insects and other animals.
Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus: biological agent which causes inflammation of the brain in horses and human beings. Disseminated by mosquitoes or aerosol. According to Soviet defector Ken Alibek, who had been second in command in the Soviet biological weapons program at Biopreparat, Soviet scientists had been experimenting with this brain virus.
Verotoxin: biological agent producing serotypes.
Vesicular stomatitis virus: animal pathogen.
Vibrio cholera: biological agent causing cholera.
Virus: class of biological agents including Ebola, Dengue, Marburg and Wite pox.
Western equine encephalitis virus: biological agent causing brain skin inflammation.
Woolsorter's disease: inhalation anthrax, treatable with penicillin.
Wheat stem rust (Puccinia graminus triciti): biological anti-crop agent that makes infected grain unfit for human consumption.
Xanthomonas albilineans: pathogenic plant bacteria.
Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri: pathogenic plant bacteria.
Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae: pathogenic plant bacteria.
Xylella fastidiosa: pathogenic plant bacteria.
Yellow fever virus: biological agent.
Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis): plague bacteria causing "black death", named after its discoverer A. Yersin.
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis: biological agent.
Chemical
Chemical casualties are horrific and shocking, and most will at first seem to be beyond help but many will recover as long as they get the right first aid in time. Each group of chemicals- nerve, blister, chocking or blood agents produces its own distinct symptoms. Each calls for specific first aid treatment so learn to recognize the symptoms at once. If you give the wrong treatment you could at worst kill the casualty and at best you'll make his suffering worse.
Chemical Agents can be loosely divided into persistent and non-persistent agents. Some agents are only lethal for a period of seconds or minutes before evaporating or dispersing to an ineffective level. However, persistent agents can be dangerous for days, months or in extreme cases, years. Persistent agents are usually delivered in liquid form and if you are attacked while not wearing full protection, you will probably have droplets of the agent on your face, your hair, exposed skin or the inside of your respirator. This contamination must be removed as quickly as possible before you absorb it through the skin or inhale the vapors given off by the liquid. Immediate decontamination must be carried out under cover when you know the liquid has stopped falling.
Nerve Agents are generally colorless and odorless gases with extremely rapid action. The first warning of attack my well be seen as causalities. You will die if you are slow to recognize the symptoms of nerve agent poisoning since you will be incapable of carrying out the immediate action drill after a few seconds. They interfere with the motor nerve reflex in the brain and thus disrupt essential body functions, causing death very quickly when present in minute quantities. Non-persistent are also referred to as "G" agents. They include "Tabun", "Sarin", "Soman". Persistent agents are also referred to as "V" agents. They include "VX" and "VR55"
Blood Agents kill by combining more readily than oxygen with the blood's hemoglobin in the lungs, starving the body of oxygen. These agents are very volatile in that they evaporate very quickly and are therefore non-persistent. The most common blood agents are hydrogen cyanide and cyanogen chloride. Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas with a smell of almonds. It is ideal for military use because it remains at lethal concentration only for a very limited period. It can therefore be used to bombard a position minutes before the attacking force arrives inflicting causalities and forcing the defenders to mask up while attacking forces need no protection. Blood agents attack the lungs and have a very rapid rate of action. Don't take a last breath before you carry out the immediate action drill if there is a blood agent about. It will be your last!
Choking Agents kill by a process of "dry land drowning". They attack the breathing passages and the lungs producing quantities of fluid in which you drown. These agents include Chlorine and Phosgene. Phosgene is a mixture of phosphorus and chlorine and smells vaguely of new mown hay. Chlorine and phosgene were used extensively in World War I. Both are non-persistent agents.
Blister Agents are classified in military terms as "damaging agents" but they can quite easily kill or cripple you if you become heavily contaminated. These agents cause inflammation and blistering of the skin, and concentrate on moist areas of the body. they can destroy contaminated internal tissues for example the lining of the lungs and breathing passages. The blistering effect can be delayed for hours or even days in the case of Sulphur Mustard. You can take cover in a shell hole or hollow in the ground and not notice the effect of mustard gas until you have become seriously injured by it. Types of blister agents include "Sulphur Mustard", "Lewisite", "Mustard and Lewisite mix", "The Dicks Group", "Phosgene Oxime"
How Chemical Agents can enter the body
Ingestion - Persistent agents can get into food and water supplies and be absorbed into the bloodstream or contact damage the stomach. Keep all equipment and food under cover and sealed in plastic once a chemical threat is declared to exist. After an attack, if you are not sure about a food source eat only tinned food that has been under cover.
Inhalation – This the most usual route. Most agents are more damaging if breathed in rather than absorbed through the skin or eyes.
Inoculation - Biological agents can be carried and injected into you by an insect carrier such as a mosquito and chemical weapons can be propelled into you by fragments of binary shells (Those with high explosive and chemical mix filling)
Your should always consider a Chemical Attack if
• There is a bombardment of any kind
• You observe hostile or low flying aircraft
• You observe suspicious mist, smoke, droplets, splashes
• You smell anything unusual
• Early and later symptoms could include:
1. Dimness of vision
2. Irritation of the eyes
3. Sudden intense headache
4. Tightness of the chest
5. Running nose
6. Intense salivation
7. Pinpointed pupils
8. Breathing difficulty
9. Heavy Sweating
10. Nausea
11. Vomiting
12. Stomach pain
13. Confused mental state
14. High pulse rate
15. Involuntary urination and defecation
16. Muscle spasms and jerking
17. Breathing stoppage followed by coma
Physical forms of chemical agents
• Liquid, either droplets or sprays
• Aerosol, a very fine spray made up of liquid droplets or solid powder but so fine that it is invisible to the eye.
• Vapor, from an evaporating liquid agent
Delivering Chemical Agents
• Artillery, either shells or mortar bombs or multiple-barreled rocket launchers.
• From the air either by bombs, bomblets, sprays or drones which can use any of the preceding methods
• Guided or free-flight missiles, as used in the Iran/Iraq war.
• C Gas generators hemical mines or grenades
• Infantry weapons such as a very pistol or a rifle grenade
Military uses of Chemical Agents
• Inflict mass causalities on an enemy by achieving surprise or by using an agent that is capable of overcoming his defensive equipment.
• To effectively suppress an enemy position without physically damaging it.
• To harass an enemy by forcing him to operate in a contaminated environment.
• To disrupt the logistic back-up and industrial support of an enemy.
• To delay reinforcement of an area or movement or reserves by forcing them to detour around contaminated areas or forcing them to use protective equipment.
• To force the enemy's movement into killing areas or set up the enemy for a tactical nuclear strike.
• To make the use of any area extremely hazardous and any task to be carried out in that are more difficult.
• To create an obstacle or simply to improve already existing ones.
• To deny the use of abandoned facilities to the enemy by contamination.
When to expect a Chemical Attack
The enemy will use chemical weapons in the best conditions possible for that weapon in order to achieve the best results. The effectiveness of agents is considerably reduced by factors such as rain, temperature, wind and cloud. When there is a threat of chemical attack, pay careful attention to the factors which will indicate a high or low risk of attack.
FACTORS Best Effective Conditions Worst Effective Conditions
Time Night/Sunrise Day
Rain None Any
Temperature 5 °C 20° C
Wind Light/Steady Strong/Turbulent
Cloud None/Light Overcast
