The M44 generator cluster was an American chemical

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

designed to deliver the incapacitating agent BZ. It was first mass-produced in 1962 and all stocks of the weapons were destroyed by 1989.

History

The

United States Army Chemical Corps The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that unti ...

renewed their

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 ...

(CW) program's focus in the early 1960s.Smart, Jeffery K.
Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
'': Chapter 2 - History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective,
PDF
: p. 51), ''

Borden Institute The Borden Institute is a U.S. Army “Center of Excellence in Military Medical Research and Education”. In 1987, U.S. Army Colonel Russ Zajtchuk conceived the idea for a “Center of Excellence in Military Medical Research and Education,” u ...

'', Textbooks of Military Medicine, PDF via

Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

, accessed December 12, 2008. This refocusing led to the pursuit of weapons utilizing agent BZ. In March 1962 the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

first began mass-production of the M44 generator cluster, along with the

M43 BZ cluster bomb The M43 BZ cluster bomb, or simply M43 cluster bomb, was a U.S. chemical cluster bomb intended to deliver the incapacitating agent known as BZ. The weapon was produced in the early 1960s and all stocks of U.S. BZ were destroyed by 1989. History ...

.Davison, Neil.
'Off the Rocker' and 'On the Floor': The Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons
", Bradford Science and Technology Report No. 8, Department of Peace Studies,

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

(UK), August 2007, p. 5, accessed December 12, 2008. Despite reaching mass-production ("standardization" in

military jargon Military terminology refers to the terms and language of military organizations and personnel as belonging to a discrete category. As distinguishable by their usage in military doctrine, they serve to depoliticise, dehumanise, or otherwise ...

) levels, the M44 and the M43 were never truly integrated into the main U.S. chemical arsenal. In total, around 1,500 of the M44s and M43s were produced. All U.S. BZ munitions and agent stockpiles were stored at

Pine Bluff Arsenal The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a United States Army installation in Jefferson County, Arkansas, about eight miles northwest of Pine Bluff and thirty miles southeast of Little Rock. Pine Bluff Arsenal is one of nine Army installations in the United ...

. The entire U.S. BZ stockpile, including the M44s, were demilitarized and destroyed between 1988 and 1989.Mauroni, Albert J. ''Chemical Demilitarization: Public Policy Aspects'',
Google Books
, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, p. 19, ().

Specifications

The M44 had a diameter of and a length of . Weighing the M44 generator cluster was a

which was designed to deliver approximately of the chemical

incapacitating agent The term incapacitating agent is defined by the United States Department of Defense as: :"An agent that produces temporary physiological or mental effects, or both, which will render individuals incapable of concerted effort in the performance o ...

BZ. The weapon's sub-munitions are a combination of various components. Three M16 BZ smoke generators were held together in an M39 cluster adapter and its M92 wire assembly; the M39 essentially bound and buckled the generators together. Each generator also held its own parachute, complete with harnesses and its own container. Also within the generator was its "generator pail" which contained the M6 canisters, the part of the sub-munition that held the BZ. Each of the M44s three generator pails held 42 M6 canisters,
Chemical Weapons and Munitions
'', U.S. Army Technical Manual (TM 43-0001-26-2), April 29, 1982, via uxoinfo.com, pp. 15-16 (1-7 thru 1-8), accessed December 12, 2008. a total of 126. The canisters were arranged in 14 three-canister tiers and each one held about of agent BZ.

Issues

The M44s relatively small production numbers were due, like all U.S. BZ munitions, to a number of shortcomings. The M44 dispensed its agent in a cloud of white, particulate smoke. This was especially problematic because the white smoke was easily visible and BZ exposure was simple to prevent; a few layers of cloth over the mouth and nose are sufficient. There were a number of other factors that made BZ weapons unattractive to military planners. BZ had a delayed and variable rate-of-action, as well as a less than ideal "envelope-of-action". In addition, BZ casualties exhibited bizarre behavior, 50 to 80 percent had to be restrained to prevent

self-injury Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...

during recovery. Others exhibited distinct symptoms of

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

and

mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...

.Kirby, Reid.
Paradise Lost: The Psycho Agents
, ''The CBW Conventions Bulletin'', May 2006, Issue no. 71, pp. 2-3, accessed December 12, 2008.

References

{{U.S. chemical weapons Cluster munition Chemical weapon delivery systems Chemical weapons of the United States

History

Specifications

Issues

See also

References