The E61 anthrax bomblet was an American biological

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 ...

for the E133 cluster bomb. This anti-personnel weapon was developed in the early 1950s and carried 35 milliliters of

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

spores or another pathogen.

History

Around October 1953 the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

reoriented its

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. Bio ...

program. One result of this, in anti-personnel weaponry, was a move away from weapons such as the

M33 cluster bomb M33, M-33, or M.33 may refer to: * M-33 (Michigan highway), a state highway in Michigan * M33 cluster bomb, a Cold War-era U.S. biological cluster bomb * HMS ''M33'', an ''M29''-class monitor warship of the Royal Navy * M33 helmet, used by the It ...

to the lethal E61 anthrax bomb.Whitby, Simon M. ''Biological Warfare Against Crops'',
Google Books
, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 114-15, (). The E61 was first developed in January 1951 as both an anti-personnel and anti-animal weapon capable of being clustered and dropped from a medium height.Endicott, Stephen Lyon and Hagerman, Edward. ''The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea'',
Google Books
, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 72, (). On March 5, 1954 a directive from the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

altered the course of the U.S. biological weapons program. The program shifted focus to developing munitions that were not only improved but those that could be delivered by high speed aircraft and balloon. The weapons referred to included the E61 bomblet.

Guillemin, Jeanne Jeanne Harley Guillemin (March 6, 1943 - November 15, 2019) was an American medical anthropologist and author, who for 25 years taught at Boston College as a Professor of Sociology and for over ten years was a senior fellow in the Security Studie ...

. ''Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-Sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism'',
Google Books
, Columbia University Press, 2005, p. 101, ().

Specifications

The E61 bomblet was a anti-personnel bomb designed to be carried in the E133 cluster bomb. Cirincione, Joseph. ''Deadly Arsenals:'',
Google Books
, APH, New Delhi: 2004, p. 60, (). The cluster bomb was designed to hold about 540 of the E61 anthrax bomblets. The E61 held about of agent and a variety of

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

s could be used,Chauhan, Sharad. ''Biological Weapons'',
Google Books
, APH, New Delhi: 2004, p. 197, (). generally

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

. The E61 was perceived as superior to its predecessors, the M33 cluster bomb and its payload of

M114 bomb The M114 bomb was a four-pound U.S. anti-personnel bomb and biological cluster bomb sub-munition. The M114 was used in the M33 cluster bomb. History The M114 was a sub-munition for the M33 cluster bomb, as such, it was the first standardized U.S. ...

s. In fact, four of the smaller E61 bomblets produced twice the coverage area of the larger M114 bomb.Smart, Jeffery K.
Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
'': Chapter 2 - History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective,
PDF
p. 51 - p.43 in PDF), ''

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 28, 2008. Upon impact the E61 would detonate releasing an aerosol of its anthrax spore laden slurry into the air of its target area.

References

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

History

Specifications

See also

References