View source for M138 bomblet

The '''M138 bomblet''' was a sub-munition of the [[List of U.S. chemical weapons topics|U.S. chemical weapon]], the M43 BZ cluster bomb. The bomblet contained [[3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate|BZ]], an [[incapacitating agent]] and was developed with the M43 in 1962. The M138s, along with all other U.S. BZ weapons were destroyed during the 1980s.

==History==
The [[U.S. Army Chemical Corps]] began mass-production of the chemical [[M43 BZ cluster bomb]] in March 1962.<ref name=smart>Smart, Jeffery K. ''[http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/chemBio/chembio.html Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826100010/http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/chemBio/chembio.html |date=2012-08-26 }}'': Chapter 2 - History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective, ([http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/medaspec/Ch-2electrv699.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191601/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/medaspec/Ch-2electrv699.pdf |date=2015-09-23 }}: p. 51), ''[[Borden Institute]]'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via [[Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base]], accessed December 11, 2008.</ref><ref name=davison>Davison, Neil. "[http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/nlw/research_reports/docs/BDRC_ST_Report_No_8.pdf 'Off the Rocker' and 'On the Floor': The Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109204845/http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/nlw/research_reports/docs/BDRC_ST_Report_No_8.pdf |date=2008-11-09 }}", Bradford Science and Technology Report No. 8, Department of Peace Studies, [[University of Bradford]] (UK), August 2007, p. 5, accessed December 11, 2008.</ref> The M43 was designed to utilize the M138 bomblet.<ref name=mauroni/> The M138, like its parent [[cluster bomb]] and all BZ munitions, were stored at [[Pine Bluff Arsenal]] in Arkansas.<ref name=mauroni/> Between 1988 and 1989 all U.S. BZ munitions, including the M138 bomblets were demilitarized and destroyed.<ref name=mauroni>Mauroni, Albert J. ''Chemical Demilitarization: Public Policy Aspects'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=50BZvGDS7iQC&dq=m34+cluster+bomb&pg=PA19 Google Books]), Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 19, ({{ISBN|027597796X}}).</ref>

==Specifications==
The M138 bomblet had the largest continuous diameter of any chemical bomblet in the U.S. arsenal, a full 72 millimeters (mm).<ref name=armyrept>Trott, p. 1</ref> The M138 also possessed the thickest steel walls of U.S. bomblets, about 3 mm.<ref name=armyrept/> The M43 cluster bomb was designed to hold 57 M138s, arranged in three stacks of 19 bomblets.<ref name=mauroni/> Each bomblet held about {{convert|6|oz|g}} of the [[incapacitating agent]] BZ, also known as [[3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate]].<ref name=mauroni/> The bomblets themselves were composed of [[M7 canister]]s which held a 50/50 mixture of pyrotechnic and agent (pyromix).<ref name=armyrept2>Trott, p. 70</ref> 

Each bomblet was a thin-walled cylinder that held an M150A2 "all-ways" acting impact fuze with an M308 delay element.<ref name=armyrept2/> The M138 became armed immediately upon separating from the M43 cluster bomb and its [[M30 cluster adapter]].<ref name=armyrept2/> When the bomblet impacted the ground it ignited the fuze, and, after a short delay, the pyromix was ignited.<ref name=armyrept2/>

==Tests involving the M138==
The M138 was the subject of various tests, including those to determine its effectiveness and its detonability as demilitarization plans for BZ weapons ramped up during the 1980s. Tests undertaken at Pine Bluff Arsenal in 1981 showed that the M138 was a non-detonable item.<ref name=armyrept/><ref name=armyrept3>Trott, p.57</ref> Because of these test results it was determined that any demilitarization plant need not include provisions for the containment of accidental detonation of the M138.<ref name=armyrept3/> Regardless, an Army report issued on the results of the testing emphasized that extreme care must be exercised in order to prevent accidental detonation of the M138 bomblets as they were destroyed.<ref name=armyrept3/>

Other testing of the M138 was carried out by the U.S. Army's [[Deseret Test Center]] under the auspices of [[Project 112]].<ref name=project112>"[http://fhp.osd.mil/CBexposures/factSheets.jsp Project 112/SHAD Fact Sheets] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220214924/http://fhp.osd.mil/CBexposures/factSheets.jsp |date=2008-12-20 }}", Force Health Protection & Readiness Policy & Programs, The Chemical-Biological Warfare Exposures Site, accessed December 11, 2008.</ref><ref name=talltimber/> These tests, known collectively as "Tall Timber" were carried out from April through June 1966 at the Waiakea Forest Reserve near [[Hilo]], [[Hawaii]].<ref name=talltimber/> The purpose of the Tall Timber tests was to determine the effectiveness of BZ-filled M138 bomblets in a [[tropical forest]] environment.<ref name=talltimber/> The tests used statically ignited M138 bomblets containing live BZ incapacitating agent.<ref name=talltimber>"[http://fhp.osd.mil/CBexposures/pdfs/tall_timber.pdf Fact Sheet &mdash; Tall Timber] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805145324/http://fhp.osd.mil/CBexposures/pdfs/tall_timber.pdf |date=2009-08-05 }}", ''Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)'', Deployment Health Support Directorate, accessed December 11, 2008.</ref>

==See also==
*[[M114 bomb]]
*[[M139 bomblet]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Bobrick, Michael C. "A Reasoned Response to NIMBY Opposition to Incineration of Chemical Weapon Stockpiles", ([https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA456582.pdf PDF], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927141536/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA456582 cache]), [[Thesis]], [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Air Force#The JAG School|United States Army Judge Advocate General's School]], April 1993, accessed December 11, 2008
*Kirby, Reid. "[http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/documents/CBWCB71.pdf Paradise Lost: The Psycho Agents]", ''The CBW Conventions Bulletin'', May 2006, Issue no. 71, accessed December 11, 2008.

{{U.S. chemical weapons}}

[[Category:Submunitions]]
[[Category:Chemical weapon delivery systems]]
[[Category:Chemical weapons of the United States]]