The E86 cluster bomb was an American

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

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 ...

first developed in 1951. Though the U.S. military intended to procure 6,000 E86s, the program was halted in the first half of the 1950s.

History

The E86 cluster bomb was developed as a biological weapon by 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 un ...

and 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 Si ...

beginning in October 1951.Whitby, Simon M. ''Biological Warfare Against Crops'',
Google Books
, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 167-69, (). The Ralph M. Parsons Company was contracted to produce the E86 in October 1952. In 1953 procurement began for 6,000 E86 cluster bombs, with their production expected no earlier than 1958. When U.S. military munition requirements were reviewed in the first half of the 1950s, production and further development of the E86 was halted. The E86 cluster bomb supplanted technologies such as the

E77 balloon bomb The E77 balloon bomb was a U.S. anti-crop biological munition based on the design of Japanese fire balloons. The E77 used feathers as a vector to disseminate anti-crop agents from a hydrogen-filled balloon and was first developed in 1950. Backgrou ...

.Wheelis, Mark, et al. ''Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945'',
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, Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 218, ().

Specifications

The E86 was similar to the M115 biological bomb, except it was larger. While the M115 weighed , the E86 was a weapon. Regardless, operationally, the E86 was similar to the M115. It was designed as an anti-

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

weapon; the

U.S. 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 ...

produced three anti crop agents,

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and rye stem rust and

rice blast ''Magnaporthe grisea'', also known as rice blast fungus, rice rotten neck, rice seedling blight, blast of rice, oval leaf spot of graminea, pitting disease, ryegrass blast, Johnson spot, neck blast, wheat blast, and Imochi (Japanese:稲熱) is a ...

.Zilinskas, Raymond A. ''Biological Warfare: Modern Offense and Defense'',
Google Books
,

Lynne Rienner Publishers Lynne Rienner Publishers is an independent scholarly and textbook publishing firm based in Boulder, CO. It was founded in 1984 and remains one of the few independent publishers in the US. It publishes primarily in the fields of international stu ...

, Boulder, Colorado: 2000, p. 68, (). The weapon was in a steel case and intended to be dropped from the exterior of an aircraft such as the

B-47 The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

. Sub-munitions included the E14 munition; the sub-munition was originally intended as anti-crop weapons as well, but was later altered and used in testing as the U.S. pursued an

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 ...

program.Kirby, Reid.
Using the flea as weapon
", ''

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:E86 Cluster Bomb Biological weapon delivery systems Cluster munition Cold War aerial bombs of the United States

History

Specifications

See also

References