M115 bomb
Template:Otheruses The M115 anti-crop bomb, also known as the feather bomb or the E73 bomb,[1] was a U.S. biological cluster bomb designed to deliver wheat stem rust.
History
Mass production of the M115 bomb began in 1953.[2] The weapon was a modified M16A1 cluster bomb, which was normally used to distribute airborne leaflet propaganda or fragmentation weapons.[3] The U.S. Air Force first pointed out the need for an anti-crop weapon in September 1947. In October 1950 the Air Force began procuring 4,800 M115 bombs.[1] By 1954, with the biological agents causing wheat and rye rust standardized in laboratory culture, the U.S. Air Force prepared to transfer the agent to some 4,800 of the M115s.[4] The deployment of the M115 represented the United States' first, though limited, anti-crop biological warfare (BW) capability.[4] Though the weapon was tested at Fort Detrick, in Frederick, Maryland, it was never used in combat.[5]
Specifications
The M115 was a Script error: No such module "convert". bomb that was converted from a leaflet bomb and to be used to deliver wheat stem rust.[2][6] Wheat stem rust culture consisted of a dry particulate matter which was adhered to a light-weight vector, usually feathers. Because of its method of dissemination, the bomb was commonly referred to as the "feather bomb".[2] The feathers would fall over a wide area when released.[5] The M115 was shown to establish 100,000 foci of infection over a Script error: No such module "convert". area.[4]
Tests involving the M115
According to a 1950 military report the M115 was tested in an area Script error: No such module "convert". long and Script error: No such module "convert". wide. The area consisted of Script error: No such module "convert". plots sown with the Overland variety of oats, susceptible to the test agent, Puccinia graminis avenae, but not to other strains of cereal rust.[3] The test drops of the M115 showed that, from an altitude of Script error: No such module "convert"., feathers could be spread over an area of Script error: No such module "convert".. Three M115 feather bombs were dropped Script error: No such module "convert". upwind from the target area, which was then monitored for any changes. Estimates showed about a 30% reduction in yield from the infected area.[3]
See also
References
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- ↑ a b Wheelis, Mark, et al. Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945, (Google Books), Harvard University Press, 2006, pp. 217-18, (Template:ISBN).
- ↑ a b c Smart, Jeffery K. Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare Template:Webarchive: Chapter 2 - History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective, (PDF: p. 51), Borden Institute, Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, accessed November 16, 2008.
- ↑ a b c Russell, Alan and Vogler, John. The International Politics of Biotechnology: Investigating Global Futures, (Google Books), Manchester University Press, 2000, pp. 173-74, (Template:ISBN).
- ↑ a b c Whitby, Simon M. Biological Warfare Against Crops, (Google Books), Macmillan, 2002, pp. 156-57, (Template:ISBN).
- ↑ a b Link, Kurt. Understanding New, Resurgent, and Resistant Diseases: How Man and Globalization Create and Spread Illness, (Google Books), Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 90, (Template:ISBN).
- ↑ Endicott, Stephen and Hagerman, Edward. "United States Biological Warfare during the Korean War: rhetoric and reality" York University, June 2002, accessed November 16, 2008.
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