Dear trunks1054-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your very
interesting question. In the past a weapon of mass destruction
immediately brought to mind the “atomic bomb” type of ordinance that
was dropped by the US over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki near the end of World War II. The two bombs, nicknamed
“Little Boy” (Hiroshima - August 6, 1945) and “Fat Man” (Nagasaki -
August 9, 1945) and Fat Man” were huge, heavy, and very difficult to
load and to manually deliver. “Little Boy”, the first nuclear bomb
ever to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, was a 9000 lb
gun-type bomb that used uranium as the fissionable material. Its
explosive process involved the internal impact of two sub-critical
mass of uranium. When the mass increased and the surface area
decreased, the resulting mass became supercritical and resulted in a
nuclear explosion equivalent to an explosion of 20,000 “tons” of TNT.
“Fat Man”, the second and last nuclear bomb, dropped a mere three days
later, weighed 10,000 lbs. This device was an implosion type weapon,
meaning that instead of blowing out (like a hand grenade) the casing
collapsed in on its contents. At the center of the bomb was a ball of
sub-critical plutonium. When the implosion, caused by a number of
high-explosive detonators, squeezed the already sub-critical plutonium
it increased its density to a supercritical condition causing an
explosion similar to the one three days earlier. So as you can see,
the US did not have only one nuclear weapon design from which they
made two bombs to drop on Japan. They actually developed two different
theories and created one bomb using each method. As it turned out,
both of them worked. (Incidentally, neither bomb ever struck the
ground. Both were detonated 1,800 feet above the city, which is why it
is more accurate to say that they were dropped “over” Japan as opposed
to being dropped “on” it). A similar bomb, and the last of its kind,
in the US arsenal at least, called the “Mark 5” dominated our nuclear
stockpile from 1953-1963. These three bombs were the forerunners of
virtually all present day nuclear weaponry. Since the advent of rocket
technology, guidance systems and jet propulsion which rendered the
older bombs obsolete, it is unlikely, nowadays, that any modern
country possesses the kind of “bombs” similar to the ones dropped over
Japan or held in stock thereafter by the US until the mid 1960’s when
missile technology replaced them altogether.
There are presently quite a number of different types of weapons of
mass destruction that are cheaper, much more destructive and
infinitely more accurate than dropping a manually detonated bomb over
a target. With the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and other
guided delivery systems, it is possible, in theory at least, to create
a WMD out of thousands of kinds of threatening material as long as you
have the means to deliver it. Simply put, if it can be attached in
some way to a missile, it can be delivered by a missile. I’ll give you
a quick rundown of the WMD’s that we know about:
MISSILES/GUIDED SYSTEMS:
As outlined above, missile systems capable of delivering a weapon that
is dependant upon nuclear detonation as it primary destructive force
are owned by a variety of countries. These weapons can be launched
from land, air, sea, or from under the sea from submarines or
strategically placed underwater silos (if in fact any exists).
MANUALLY DELIVERED WEAPONS/BOMBS
Portable WMD’s, (nuclear or conventional explosives that are timer
dependent or manually detonated) are also capable of creating a
nuclear explosion or capable of delivering a biological or chemical
agent by way of a conventional explosion. Several references have been
made in recent moths about the possibility of “suitcase bombs” - small
nuclear devices concealed in similarly small containers that might be
carried to a location and detonated rather than fired from a great
distance and detonated remotely.
“DIRTY BOMBS”
This is a catchall term for any form of delivery (missile, hand
carried, etc) that is contaminated with any substance that could
potentially affect the well being of a large group of people well
beyond the maximum effective range of the explosive itself. A
missiles, hand grenades, mines, timed explosive and other similar
devices that have been intentionally contaminated with toxic
substances with the specific intent to disburse that agent into the
environment in an effort to cause mass casualties are all examples of
“dirty bombs”. One’s imagination is the limit of how many different
ways this weapon could theoretically be deployed.
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
A biological weapon is a weapon that possesses any substance designed
to cause its victims to become ill from the affects of direct or
secondary exposure to the disbursed substance. Examples of known
biological weapons are weapons that disburse bacteria, Rickettsiae,
parasites, viruses, fungi or other naturally occurring toxins that
cause or mimic similar effects in humans, plants or animals. These can
be delivered in the form of freeze dried organisms, solids, liquid or
aerosol from a variety of means ranging from missile to manual
personal delivery. Not all biological weapons require the need for
explosives, as is evident in the cases of anthrax attacks some time
ago.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
These are the easiest WMD to produce. In similar fashion, chemical
weapons are not always dependent upon explosives as a means of
delivery. Chemical weapons are intended to temporarily disable,
injure, or kill large groups beyond the scope of the initially
affected area and include (but are not necessarily limited to) weapons
that deliver choking agents, blood agents, blister agents, G-series
nerve agents, and V-series nerve agents. They can be transported via
missile or hand carried to the target. Like biological weapons, they
can be disbursed using solids, liquid, aerosol or gas, or they can be
strategically added to consumable products (food, water, medicine,
etc.) or areas where victims are likely to unknowingly encounter them
through the course of normal activity.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I have left you a
number of pertinent links where you can read a great deal more about
this topic. I recommend you visit them at your leisure as many of them
contain quite detailed information that I was not able to provide for
you here. I hope you find that that my research exceeds your
expectations. If you have any questions about my research please post
a clarification request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I
welcome your rating and your final comments and I look forward to
working with you again in the near future. Thank you for bringing your
question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
FAT MAN NUCLEAR BOMB
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/arm/arm41.htm
LITTLE BOY NUCLEAR BOMB
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/arm/arm42.htm
MARK 5 NUCLEAR BOMB
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/arm/arm39.htm
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
“CHEMICAL WARFARE”
http://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/archives/1996/go_appendixb_032796.html
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
“BIOLOGOCAL WARFARE”
http://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/archives/1996/go_appendixc_032796.html
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0211/feature1/
(Multiple links)
WMD – DUPONT
http://www.dupontert.com/WMD.htm
COUNTER-TERRORISM
http://www.counterterrorismtraining.gov/pubs/11.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
types "weapons of mass destruction" |
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