Binary agents

Projectile,155mm,gb2,m687

In chemical warfare, a binary weapon is defined as a CW agent where the agent is produced during the flying time of the ammunition (rocket, missile, shell, or grenade) towards the target. The claimed purpose of this kind of CW agent is to reduce the risks in the production, storage, transport, and even destruction of the toxic agent. This is possible because the starting materials are relatively non-toxic precursors. For this task to be feasible the reaction has to be controlled to avoid overheating or explosion during the flight. Also, it should preferably run without solvent and has to be completed, with a high yield, in a matter of seconds. Usually the body of a binary projectile contains two separate canisters, one behind the other, each containing one starting material. The force of launching causes the breaking of the canisters, which mixes the starting materials and triggers the reaction to produce the chemical agent, alternative mechanisms have been developed.

The idea of designing this kind of ammunition originates from World War II , when military chemists developed, but never used, a binary bomb to deliver the blood agent arsine. The vesicant N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosocarbamate  was also considered as a potential binary weapon in the 1940s, but never fully developed. The first nerve agents developed as binary weapons were GB-2, GD-2, and VX-2, the binary versions of sarin, soman, and VX, respectively. They were all developed by the USA during the Cold War  they have been called  the third generation of CW agents.

The first weapon designed to use binary agents was the American BL80 "Bigeye", an air dropped 500lb bomb. Bigeye produced VX from O-Ethyl O-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonite (QL) and sulfur - see VX2 below. It was originally designed in the 1960s and production ended in 1990.

Known binary agents include the following:

In the open literature little is known about agents developed in the Soviet Union. They are thought to be five to ten times more toxic than VX  The toxicity of these binary agents does not rely primarily on the inhibition of  acetylcholinesterase, but it is thought that it causes permanent neuropathy. Consequently, conventional nerve agent antidotes (atropine sulfate and pralidoxime chloride) may not work. Reactive oximes such as potassium 2,3-butanedione monoximate may be use in detoxification.

Other countries believed to have developed binary agents include Syria, Iraq and North and South Korea.

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