The E23 munition was a

cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...

sub-munition developed by the

United States biological weapons program The United States biological weapons program officially began in spring 1943 on orders from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. Research continued following World War II as the U.S. built up a large stockpile of biological agents and weapons. Over t ...

for use as an anti-crop weapon. The E23 underwent a conversion for use as a vector weapon and was briefly used in large-scale

entomological warfare Entomological warfare (EW) is a type of biological warfare that uses insects to interrupt supply lines by damaging crops, or to directly harm enemy combatants and civilian populations. There have been several programs which have attempted to instit ...

trial but technical issues forced it from the tests.

History

The E23 munition was originally conceived as an anti-crop weapon. When, following the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, U.S. interest in large-scale

increased, the E23 was one of two munitions involved in field testing the potential of insect vectors as weapons.Croddy, Eric and Wirtz, James J. ''Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History'',
Google Books
, ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 304, ().

Specifications

The E23 was made of cardboard and had a diameter of and a length of . Essentially a cardboard container, the E23 consisted of an internal actuator which simply reversed a plastic bag, expelling its contents. The E23

sub-munition 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 ...

also included a small parachute for use when dropped from the E77 cluster bomb. The weapon was deployed between 2,000 and 1,000 feet in altitude after its release from the cluster bomb. Once converted for use as a vector weapon the E23 could hold 200,000

rat flea A rat flea is a parasite of rats. There are at least four species: * Oriental rat flea (''Xenopsylla cheopis''), also known as the tropical rat flea, the primary vector for bubonic plague * Northern rat flea (''Nosopsyllus fasciatus''). Accordin ...

s in its interior among small pieces of sponge.

Issues

Initially, the E23 was involved in "

Operation Big Itch Operation Big Itch was a U.S. entomological warfare field test using uninfected fleas to determine their coverage and survivability as a vector for biological agents. Bubonic plague is an infection of the lymphatic system, usually resulting from the ...

". In September 1954 Big Itch aimed to determine coverage patterns and survivability of uninfected tropical rat fleas (''Xenopsylla cheopis'') for use in

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. ...

as disease vector.The tropical rat flea is a known

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

for bubonic plague. See: Trivedi, "''Xenopsylla cheopis''".Rose, William H.
An Evaluation of Entomological Warfare as a Potential Danger to the United States and European NATO Nations
, U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command,

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway P ...

, March 1981, via '' thesmokinggun.com'', accessed December 28, 2008. In preliminary Big Itch tests approximately half of the E23 munitions failed to properly function. In one instance, the problems with the E23 led uninfected fleas to escape into the aircraft where they bit the pilot, bombardier and an observer. These problems led to the E23 being pulled off of Operation Big Itch.Kirby, Reid.
Using the flea as weapon
,
Web version
via ''

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''), ''

Army Chemical Review ''Army Chemical Review'' is prepared twice a year by the United States Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) School and the Maneuver Support Center, Directorate of Training, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. This magazine presents ...

'', July 2005, accessed December 28, 2008. Despite the problems with the E23, the Big Itch field trials ultimately proved successful.

Notes

References

*Trivedi, Janki. "
Xenopsylla cheopis
'",

Animal Diversity Web Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database that collects the natural history, classification, species characteristics, conservation biology, and distribution information on thousands of species of animals. The website includes thousands ...

, ''University of Michigan Museum of Zoology'', 2003, accessed December 28, 2008. {{U.S. biological weapons Biological weapon delivery systems Submunitions Cold War weapons of the United States

History

Specifications

Issues

See also

Notes

References