Chemical Warfare: Strategies and Impacts in Modern Military Science

By Fouad Sabry

What is Chemical Warfare

Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, all of which are considered "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Chemical warfare

Chapter 2: Mustard gas

Chapter 3: Chemical Weapons Convention

Chapter 4: Sarin

Chapter 5: Tabun (nerve agent)

Chapter 6: Chemical weapons in World War I

Chapter 7: United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction

Chapter 8: Chemical weapon proliferation

Chapter 9: Pine Bluff Arsenal

Chapter 10: Methylphosphonyl difluoride

(II) Answering the public top questions about chemical warfare.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Chemical Warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 29, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare (CW) is the employment of the toxicity of chemical compounds as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare, and radiological warfare, which collectively comprise CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (warfare or weapons), all of which are considered weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), in contrast to conventional weapons.

Under customary international humanitarian law, the use of chemical weapons is illegal.

The destructive effects of chemical weapons are not largely attributable to an explosive force, which distinguishes chemical warfare from the deployment of conventional or nuclear weapons. Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax) is considered biological warfare rather than chemical warfare; however, the offensive use of nonliving toxic products produced by living organisms (such as botulinum toxin, ricin, and saxitoxin) is considered chemical warfare (CWC). Any toxin, regardless of its origin, is considered a chemical weapon under this treaty unless it is employed for a permitted purpose (an important legal definition known as the General Purpose Criterion).

According to the agreement, substances that are poisonous enough to be used as chemical weapons or that can be used to produce such substances are classified into three groups based on their intended use and treatment:

Schedule 1 - Possess few, if any, valid applications. These may only be manufactured or used for scientific, medical, pharmaceutical, or protective objectives (i.e. testing of chemical weapons sensors and protective clothing). Nerve agents, ricin, lewisite, and mustard gas are some examples. Any manufacture above 100 grams (3.5 oz) must be notified to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and a country may have no more than one tonne of these substances in stockpile.

Schedule 2 — No industrial uses on a broad scale, but may have acceptable small-scale uses. Examples include dimethyl methylphosphonate, a precursor to sarin that is also used as a flame retardant, and thiodiglycol, a precursor chemical used in the production of mustard gas that is also widely employed as an ink solvent.

Schedule 3 — Possess valid large-scale industrial applications. For instance, phosgene and chloropicrin are examples. Both phosgene and chloropicrin have been used as chemical weapons, although phosgene is an essential precursor in the production of plastics, whereas chloropicrin is a fumigant. The OPCW must be notified and may investigate any facility that produces more than 30 tons of chemical weapons per year.

Chemical weapons fall into three distinct classes:

Category 1 – drugs included in Schedule 1

Categorical 2 - drugs not on Schedule 1

Categorization 3 - systems and equipment designed for use with chemical weapons, but without the chemicals

Simple chemical weapons were utilized intermittently from antiquity to the Industrial Revolution. The modern paradigm of chemical warfare did not exist until the 19th century, when several scientists and governments recommended the deployment of asphyxiating or deadly gases.

On the basis of the fear of governments and scientists, multiple international treaties banning chemical weapons were passed. However, this did not prevent widespread employment of chemical weapons during World War I. Both sides attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare through the invention of chlorine gas, among others. Despite being mainly useless in the long term, it significantly altered the dynamics of the battle. In many instances, the employed gases did not kill, but rather cruelly maimed, wounded, or disfigured victims. There were approximately 1.3 million gas victims, which may have included up to 260,000 civilian casualties.

The postwar era has witnessed restricted, though devastating, using chemical weapons.

Throughout the Vietnam War, betwixt 1962 and 1971, The U.S. military sprayed nearly 20 million U.S.

gallons (76,000 m³) of various chemicals – the rainbow herbicides and defoliants – in Vietnam, eastern Laos, as part of Operation Ranch Hand, elements of Cambodia, reaching its apex between 1967 and 1969.

Also see chemical terrorism.

During the Syrian civil war in the twenty-first century, the Ba'athist administration in Syria adopted a strategy of deploying chemical warfare against civilian populations, culminating in multiple lethal chemical assaults.

Although primitive chemical warfare has been deployed in many parts of the world for thousands of years, modern chemical warfare originated during the First World War — see Chemical weapons in the First World War.

In the beginning, only well-known, commercially available compounds and their versions were utilized. Among these were chlorine and phosgene gas. The techniques employed to disseminate these chemicals during combat were relatively crude and ineffective. However, given to the predominantly immobile troop positions that were characteristic of trench warfare, losses might be high.

Germany was the first nation to use chemical weapons on the battlefield, Since the development of modern chemical warfare in World War I, nations have pursued research and development in four major categories: new and more lethal agents; more efficient methods of delivering agents to the target (dissemination); more reliable means of defense against chemical weapons; and more sensitive and accurate means of detecting chemical agents.

The substance employed in warfare is known as a chemical warfare agent (CWA). During the 20th and 21st centuries, over seventy distinct compounds were utilized or stockpiled as chemical warfare agents. These agents can be liquid, gaseous, or solid. The term volatile or high vapor pressure refers to liquid agents that evaporate rapidly. Numerous chemical agents are volatile organic molecules, allowing for rapid dispersion across broad areas.

The original objective of research into chemical warfare agents was not toxicity, but rather the production of agents that can influence a target via the skin and clothing, rendering gas masks worthless. The Germans employed sulfur mustard in July 1917. Mustard agents can quickly permeate leather and cloth to cause painful flesh burns.

Agents of chemical warfare are classified as either lethal or incapacitating.

When less than 1/100 of the deadly dose of a chemical causes incapacitation, it is characterized as incapacitating, e.g, from sickness or vision difficulties.

There is no definite demarcation between chemicals that are fatal and those that are incapacitating, but relies on a statistical average called the LD50.

Agents of chemical warfare can be categorized based on their persistency, which is a measurement of the amount of time a chemical weapon stays effective after its dispersion. Substances are categorized as persistent or nonpersistent.

Agents classed as nonpersistent lose their efficacy within a few minutes, hours, or even seconds. Purely gaseous agents, such as chlorine, and very volatile agents, such as sarin, are nonpersistent. Tactically, nonpersistent agents are extremely valuable against targets that must be immediately seized and governed.

In addition to the agent employed, the mode of delivery is crucial. The agent is distributed into very minute droplets equivalent to the mist produced