155 mm
155 mm (6.1 in) is a common, NATO-standard, artillery caliber. It is defined in AOP-29 part 1 with reference to STANAG 4425. It is commonly used in field guns, howitzers, and gun-howitzers.
Land warfare
The caliber originated in France after ...
sarin
Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.chemical
artillery shell
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage ...
. The design was standardized in 1976 and production began on December 16, 1987 at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Production was halted three years later, following the
1990 Chemical Weapons Accord
On June 1, 1990, Presidents George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the bilateral U.S.–Soviet Chemical Weapons Accord; officially known as the "Agreement on Destruction and Non-production of Chemical Weapons and on Measures to Facilita ...
between the United States and the USSR, and the dismantling of existing stocks began in November 1997 at Hawthorne Army Depot, Nevada. America's remaining stocks were stored at the Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah, and the Umatilla Chemical Depot ( Umatilla County, Oregon).
The shell contained two canisters separated by a rupture disk. The compartments were filled with two liquid precursor chemicals for
sarin
Sarin (NATO designation GB G-series, "B"">Nerve_agent#G-series.html" ;"title="hort for Nerve agent#G-series">G-series, "B" is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound.methylphosphonyl difluoride (denominated DF) and a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and isopropyl amine (denominated OPA) is in a second canister. The isopropyl amine binds the
hydrogen fluoride
Hydrogen fluoride (fluorane) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . This colorless gas or liquid is the principal industrial source of fluorine, often as an aqueous solution called hydrofluoric acid. It is an important feedstock i ...
generated during the chemical reaction. When the shell was fired the force of the acceleration would cause the disk between them to breach and the spinning of the projectile facilitated mixing. The two precursor chemicals would react in flight to produce sarin and when the shell reached its target the sarin would be released.
The shells were meant to be stored and transported with only the OPA compartment loaded; the
fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze d ...
and the DF compartment would be inserted shortly before firing.
The M687 was never used in combat and, under the
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...
, the U.S. destroyed the shells and the precursor chemical DF as part of its agreement to eliminate all chemical weapons. More than 258,000 of the shells were shipped to Hawthorne Army Depot from their storage at Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah, and the Umatilla Chemical Depot, Oregon and were destroyed by July 1999. The last of the U.S.'s stockpile of DF was destroyed on April 6, 2006.
See also
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Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...
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M104 155 mm projectile
The M104 155 mm projectile is a chemical artillery shell designed for use by the U.S. Army. It was specifically designed to carry about of sulfur mustard (H) or (HD) blister agent (distilled mustard). As early as the 1960s, the shell was also ...
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M110 155 mm projectile
The M110 155mm Projectile is an artillery shell used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. The M110 was originally designed as a chemical artillery round to deliver blister agents via howitzer as a replacement for the World War I-era 75mm chemi ...
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M121 155 mm projectile
The M121/A1 155mm Projectile was a chemical artillery shell designed for use by the U.S. Army. It was designed to be used with approximately of GB or VX nerve agents.
History
The U.S. Army standardized the M121 shell in 1954 as an artillery s ...
M55 (rocket)
The M55 rocket was a chemical weapon developed by the United States in the 1950s. The United States Army produced both Sarin and VX unitary warheads for the M55.
History
In 1951 the US Army Chemical Corps and United States Army Ordnance Corps, Ord ...