The Flettner rotor bomblet was a U.S. 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 ...

that was never mass-produced. Based on the vertical

Flettner rotor A Flettner rotor is a smooth cylinder with disc end plates which is spun along its long axis and, as air passes at right angles across it, the Magnus effect causes an aerodynamic force to be generated in the direction perpendicular to both the l ...

which takes advantage of the

Magnus effect The Magnus effect is an observable phenomenon commonly associated with a spinning object moving through a fluid. The path of the spinning object is deflected in a manner not present when the object is not spinning. The deflection can be expl ...

, a force acting on a spinning body in a moving airstream, it was developed toward the end of the U.S. biological weapons program in the 1960s.

History

The Flettner rotor biological bomblet was an experimental

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 by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during the 1960s,Eitzen, Edward M.
Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
'': Chapter 20 - Use of Biological Weapons,
PDF
p. 5), ''

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 November 16, 2008. as the U.S.

biological weapons 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 bioterrorism ...

program neared its end. The weapon was never standardized or mass-produced.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, (), accessed November 13, 2008. William C. Patrick III said, in 1995, that the Flettner rotor was "probably one of the better devices for disseminating microorganisms."

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

, Office of Emergency Preparedness,
Proceedings of the Seminar Responding to the Consequences of Chemical and Biological Terrorism
, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md; July 11–14, 1995, p. 70, via LSU Law Center's Medical and Public Health Law Site, accessed November 16, 2008.

Specifications

The Flettner rotor was seven inches long and winged. It could carry a liquid or dry

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 bioterroris ...

and was designed to be used as a sub-munition in a missile warhead, cluster bomb or dispenser. The fins, or wings, were designed to extend by

centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...

, thus stabilizing the bomblet as it flew to the target area. The Flettner rotor has a glide angle of 44 degrees. The Flettner rotor made it possible for a single

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 ...

to cover an area of 20,000 square kilometers with biological agent. The Flettner rotor utilized the delayed action dissemination technique (DADT) fuse. This type of fuse has two functions. The first is that the internal fuse can initiate the gas expulsion system in the event of tampering, or certain environmental conditions. This DADT fuse also

self-destruct A self-destruct is a mechanism that can cause an object to destroy itself or render itself inoperable after a predefined set of circumstances has occurred. Self-destruct mechanisms are typically found on devices and systems where malfunction could ...

s after three days if the munition fails to dispense its agent on impact as designed. Fuses incorporating self-destruct mechanisms are considerably more expensive than traditional fuses.Kirby, Reid.
The CB Battlefield Legacy: Understanding the Potential Problem of Clustered CB Weapons
", ''

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 ...

'', pp. 25–29, July-December 2006, accessed November 16, 2008.

References

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

History

Specifications

See also

References