Chemical weapons mortars

PA PCP PCR PFA PGB PHA PID PLC PMACWA PMD POTW ppm PRH PRR psi psig PTFE PVDF PWS picric acid pentachlorophenol propellant collection reactor perfluoroalkoxy product gas burner preliminary hazards analysis proportional integral differential controller programmable logic control Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment projectile mortar demilitarization (machine) publicly owned treatment works parts per million projectile rotary hydrolyzer propellant removal room pounds per square inch pounds per square inch gauge polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) polyvinylidene fluoride projectile washout system... 

No wonder the average citizen does not fully understand chemical warfare, when even the best-informed experts do not provide us with straightforward explanations. But perhaps they should not be too harshly criticized. Descriptions of the mechanisms and sequence of nerve gas effects are complex. Efforts to provide the details may produce confusion rather than enlightenment. The deadliness of mortar shells and Kalashnikovs may be familiar, but the complex effects of chemical weapons are not. 

China Has advanced chemical weapons programme. Researching more advanced agents. Delivery systems include artillery, rockets, mortars, landmines, aerial bombs, sprayers, and short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. 

Iran Has a stockpile of chemical weapons. Previously known to have produced and stockpiled blister, blood and choking agents, and probably nerve agents. Seeking aid from Chinese and Russian entities to develop more advanced self-sufficient infrastructure. Delivery systems include artillery shells, mortars, rockets and aerial bombs. Used chemical weapons during Iran-Iraq War. 

CWWG Chemical Weapons Working Group LPMD linear projectile/mortar disassembly... 

Kitamura, R., M. Ueda, and J.K. Asahina. 2007. Surrogate test for M55 nerve agent rocket mortar by DAVINCH. Presented at the 10th International Chemical Weapons Demilitarisation Conference in Brussels, Belgium, May. Available online at http //www.dstl.gov.uk/conferences/ cwd/2007/. Last accessed on February 17, 2009. 

During the 1930s, the CWS stockpiled the chemical weapons used by World War I ground forces in preparation for a future war. These were primarily Livens projectors, Stokes mortars, and portable cylinders. In addition, there were chemical shells for 75-mm, 105-mm, and 155-mm artillery pieces (Figures 2-22 and 2-23). 

The mustard at Pueblo Chemical Depot is stored in artillery and mortar projectiles, which include a variety of other chemical compounds that must also be destroyed. The term assembled chemical weapon describes munitions that contain chemical agents. Mortars are typically stored with energetic components in place projectiles may or may not contain bursters or fuzes. More detailed descriptions of these munitions are provided in Appendix A. 

At the end of World War I, there were four million shells in the United States inventory. World War I ordnance such as the Livens projectile and Stokes mortar were outmoded by World War II, resulting in burials and dumping. Leaking ordnance was a continual problem. Add to that the 1,343,728 World War II chemical bombs, and the 13,550,613 World War II chemical mortar rounds not used in World War II, and the probability of substantial buried chemical weapons becomes a certainty, in addition to the tremendous numbers of currently stockpiled ordnance. Also, even current inventory ordnance would have an occasional leaking or damaged munition. In addition, experimental ordnance, grenades, rockets, candles, spray tanks, smoke pots, and cylinders are also burial candidates. Where is the question state and local regulators need to repeatedly ask. 

Military sites often span several wars or decades. The constant improvement in the weapons of war may suddenly render a particular ordnance item obsolete. A timeline should be constructed for major changes in ordnance and then the site should he considered against that backdrop. The advent of the Dahlgren gun, breach loading caimon, chemical weapons, modern mortars, airplane-deployed bombs and the demise of smaller guns such as the 3-in. Stokes, 75-mm or larger 30-caliber ammunition in rifles in favor of 22-caliber bullets should be considered as these events would be motivation to dispose of substantial quantities of obsolete ordnance. 

The Soviet Union has the capability to deliver chemical munitions in ground, air, and naval combat. Just as in the Second World War, Soviet armed forces maintain a wide variety of potential delivery systems, including aerial bombs, spray tanks, tactical missiles, mines, rockets, artillery and mortar projectiles. The Department of Defense claims not only that the Soviets have such systems but that they have also developed the firing data on the utility of chemical weapons in battle situations , that is... 

Of the weapons listed in Table 6.1, the anti-personnel mine, designated KhF, is described in an American military manual as a bounding chemical mine , capable of spreading liquid agents over the ground . Any mortar or artillery piece with a calibre in excess of 100 mm is capable of delivering chemical munitions. Mortar bombs... 

As the combat period approached, Colonel Unmacht and his stafiF turned their attention from numerous projects in gas warfare defense and decontamination to the nontoxic chemical weapons and munitions. Their work on the flame thrower tank, and later on stabilized flame thrower fuels, was the outstanding overseas development work of the worldwide CWS. Unmacht was a strong proponent of the use of the 4.2-inch chemical mortar with high-explosive shell, and the development, testing, and combat supply of a landing craft mortar mounting for Pacific amphibious operations represented one of his achievements in the field of combat support. The mortar gun boat development was also a noteworthy example of Army-Navy co-operation. 

The determination, mentioned above, to convert the chemical weapons units to the 8i-mm. mortar naturally interrupted negotiations regarding the HE 4.2 mortar shell. A personal conference between General Porter and General Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, resolved the issue in favor of the 4.2-inch mortar, a decision followed by steps to equip the mortar battalions with the approved weapon. Later came the authorization to produce a high explosive filling for the 4.2-inch mortar shell. ... 

Meanwhile, the series of plans prepared in the United Kingdom for the cross-Channel attack included the possibility of chemical weapon support. The 1942 plan, for example, which called for a force of a million men included a recommendation for twenty mortar battalions. While there was far less than this number available, the lack of reality between plans for the use of mortar battalions and the number of units on hand was tempered by several factors. At that time the mission of these units was restricted to gas and smoke, and thus far it was a gasless war. Moreover, ground force commanders, operating within the limits of the troop basis, were reluctant to give up units of known potential for a type untested in combat. 

In July 1941 the Chief, CWS, took action to get the question of weapons for chemical units settled. This he did by formally recommending to the Chief of Staff that the two active chemical weapons companies in the zone of interior be expanded to battalions and equipped with the 4.2-inch mortar. The Chief, CWS, encountered some difficulty with this suggestion in the General Staff, but General George C. Marshall decided the issue by directing that General Porter s proposal be carried out. ... 

In accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United States is destroying (via chemical neutralization followed by biotreatment or supercritical water oxidation) the remaining sulfur mustard stored at the Blue Grass and Pueblo Army Depots (PEO ACWA, 2014). The sulfur mustard occurs in artillery projectiles and mortar rounds. Destruction is scheduled for completion by 2019 at Pueblo Army Depot and 2023 at Blue Grass Army Depot. 

As stated earlier, although there was no large-scale use of chemical weapons during WWII, large numbers of chemical munitions were produced and filled. The United States, for example, acquired and filled with mustard gas approximately 0.5 million 4.2 inch mortars 1.3 million 75 mm, 2 million 105 mm and 1 million 155 mm artillery shells 0.6 million 115 pound bombs and 0.5 million 100 lb bombs plus spray tanks and mines.[13] The majority of these munitions were filled with unthickened mustard gas . 

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