The E120 bomblet was a biological

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 ...

sub-munition developed to disseminate a liquid

biological agent A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrori ...

. The E120 was developed by the United States in the early 1960s.

History

The E120 bomblet was one of several biological weapons that were developed before the United States abandoned its offensive biological warfare program in 1969–1970.Eitzen, Edward M.
Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
'': Chapter 20 - Use of Biological Weapons,
PDF
p. 6), '' Borden Institute'', 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. ...

, accessed November 12, 2008. The E120 was developed in the early 1960s. The Schu S-4 strain of the tularemia bacterium was standardized as Agent UL for use in the E120 bomblet.Pike, John E.
Tularemia
''Globalsecurity.org'', accessed November 12, 2008.

Specifications

The E120 was a spherical bomblet with a diameter of 11.4 centimeters. It was designed to hold 0.1 kilograms of liquid biological agent. Much like the M139 bomblet, the E120 had exterior "vanes". However, the vanes' function on the E120 was to cause the bomblet to rotate as it fell, thus shattering and rolling around upon impact while spraying the agent from a nozzle.''Countermeasures''
Chapter 6 - An Overview of Emerging Missile State Countermeasures
p. 14, accessed November 12, 2008.

References

{{U.S. biological weapons Biological weapon delivery systems Submunitions

History

Specifications

See also

References