Classification of poisonous substances. Types of chemical weapons, the history of their occurrence and destruction

WAR POISON SUBSTANCES(former name - "combat gases", "suffocating agents"), artificial chemical products used in war to destroy living targets - humans and animals. Poisonous substances are the active principle of the so-called. chemical weapons and serve directly to inflict damage. The concept of toxic substances includes such chemical compounds that, if properly used, are capable of incapacitating an unprotected fighter by poisoning him. Poisoning here refers to any disturbance of the normal functioning of the body - from temporary irritation of the eyes or respiratory tract to long-term illness or death.

History . April 22, 1915 is considered the beginning of the combat use of poisonous substances, when the Germans launched the first chlorine gas attack against the British. Since the middle of 1915, chemical projectiles with various toxic substances were widely used in the war. At the end of 1915, chloropicrin began to be used in the Russian army. In February 1916, the French introduced phosgene into combat practice. In July 1917, mustard gas (a blistering poisonous substance) was used in the German army in combat operations, and in September 1917 arsines were introduced into it (see Combat arsines) - arsenic-containing poisonous substances used in the form of poisonous smoke and fog. The total number of various poisonous substances used in the world war reached 70. At present, the armies of almost all countries have various types of poisonous substances in service, which will undoubtedly be used in future military clashes. Further research on the improvement of production methods and the use of already known poisonous substances is being carried out in all major states.

Combat use of poisonous substances carried out by introducing them into the atmosphere in the form of vapors, smoke or fog, or by applying toxic substances to the surface of the soil and local objects. The most convenient and commonly used medium for introducing toxic substances into the body is air; in certain cases, this role can be played by soil, water, vegetation, foodstuffs and all artificial structures and objects. To defeat through the air requires the creation of a certain "combat" concentration of toxic substances, calculated in weight units (mg per liter of air) or volumetric (% or ‰). When soil is contaminated, a certain "density of infection" is required, calculated in grams of toxic substances per m 2 of surface. To bring toxic substances into an active state and to transfer them by the attacking side to the objects of attack, special mechanical devices are used, which make up material part chemical attack techniques.

During the World War, poisonous substances were used in the following methods of chemical attack: 1) gas balloon attack, i.e., the release of a gaseous poisonous substance from special cylinders, carried to the enemy by the wind in the form of a poisoned air wave; 2) firing of field artillery with chemical projectiles containing poisonous substances and an explosive charge; 3) firing chemical mines from ordinary or special mortars (gas throwers) and 4) throwing hand and rifle chemical grenades. At present, the following methods have been developed: 5) burning special candles that produce poisonous smoke when burned; 6) direct contamination of the area with toxic substances by means of ground (portable) devices; 7) bombardment from aircraft with aerochemical bombs; and 8) direct spraying or spraying of poisonous substances from aircraft over the surface of the earth.

Poisonous substances as a weapon has a massive damaging effect. The main difference from mechanical weapons is that the very damaging effect of poisonous substances is chemical, based on the interaction of a poisonous substance with the tissues of a living organism, and causes a certain combat effect as a result of a known chemical process. The action of various poisonous substances is extremely diverse: it can vary widely and take the most diverse forms; the defeat usually captures a huge number of living cells (general poisoning of the body). Other features of poisonous substances as weapons are: a) high fragmentation of the substance at the time of action (up to individual molecules, about 10 -8 cm in size, or smoke and fog particles, 10 -4 -10 -7 cm in size), due to which a continuous zone is created defeat; b) the ability to spread in all directions and penetrate with air through small holes; c) the duration of action (from several minutes to several weeks); and d) for some poisonous substances, the ability to act slowly (not immediately) or gradually and imperceptibly accumulate in the body until life-threatening quantities are formed (“cumulation” of poisonous substances).

Requirements for poisonous substances, are put by tactics, military equipment and supply agencies. They boil down mainly to the following conditions: 1) high toxicity (the degree of poisoning effect), i.e., the ability of poisonous substances to incapacitate in low concentrations and with a short action, 2) the difficulty of protection for the enemy, 3) ease of use for the attacking side , 4) convenience of storage and transport, 5) availability of manufacturing in large quantities and low cost. Requirement (5) implies the need to closely link the production of poisonous substances with the peaceful chemical industry of the country. Satisfaction of all these requirements is achieved by proper selection of the physical, chemical and toxic properties of poisonous substances, as well as by improving the methods of their manufacture and use.

Tactical characteristics of poisonous substances. Poisonous substances that are difficult to fly and possess high chemical strength are called persistent (for example, mustard gas). Such toxic substances are capable of exerting a long-term damaging effect in the place where they were released from the shell; therefore, they are suitable for pre-infection of areas of the area in order to make them inaccessible or impassable (gas locks). On the contrary, highly volatile or rapidly decomposing toxic substances are classified as unstable, short-acting. The latter also include toxic substances used in the form of smoke.

The chemical composition of poisonous substances. Almost all poisonous substances, with few exceptions, are organic, i.e., carbonaceous, compounds. The composition of various toxic substances known so far included only the following 9 elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, bromine, iodine, nitrogen, sulfur and arsenic. Among the poisonous substances used were representatives of the following classes of chemical compounds: 1) inorganic - free halides and acid chlorides; 2) organic - halogenated hydrocarbons, ethers (simple and complex), ketones, mercaptans and sulfides, organic acid chlorides, unsaturated aldehydes, nitro compounds, cyanide compounds, arsines, etc. The chemical composition and structure of the molecule of poisonous substances determine all their other properties, important in combat.

Nomenclature. To designate poisonous substances, either their rational chemical names(chlorine, bromoacetone, diphenylchlorarsine, etc.), or special military terms (mustard gas, lewisite, surpalite), or, finally, conditional ciphers (D. M., K., yellow cross). Conditional terms were also used for mixtures of poisonous substances (martonite, palite, vincennite). During the war, poisonous substances were usually encrypted to keep their composition secret.

Individual representatives The most important chemical agents used in the World War or described in the post-war literature are listed in the attached table along with their most important properties.

Physical properties of toxic substances, affecting their combat suitability: 1) vapor pressure, which should be. significant at ordinary temperatures, 2) evaporation rate or volatility (high for unstable poisons and low for persistent ones), 3) volatility limit (maximum achievable concentration), 4) boiling point (low for unstable poisons and high for persistent ones), 5 ) melting point, 6) state of aggregation at ordinary temperature (gases, liquids, solids), 7) critical temperature, 8) heat of vaporization, 9) specific gravity in liquid or solid state, 10) vapor density of toxic substances (d. b greater than the density of air), 11) solubility (ch. arr. in water and substances of the animal organism), 12) the ability to be adsorbed (absorbed) by anti-gas coal (see Activated carbon), 13) the color of toxic substances and some other properties.

Chemical properties of toxic substances entirely dependent on their composition and structure. From a military point of view, the following are of interest: 1) the chemical interaction of poisonous substances with substances and tissues of an animal organism, which determines the nature and degree of toxicity of poisonous substances and is the cause of their damaging effect; 2) the ratio of toxic substances to water (ability to be decomposed by water - hydrolysis); 3) relation to atmospheric oxygen (oxidizability); 4) attitude towards metals (corrosive effect on shells, weapons, mechanisms, etc.); 5) the possibility of neutralizing poisonous substances with available chemicals; 6) the possibility of recognizing poisonous substances with the help of chemical reagents; and 7) the smell of poisonous substances, which also depends on the chemical nature of the substances.

Toxic properties of toxic substances. The variety of toxic effects of poisonous substances is determined by the diversity of their composition and structure. Substances that are close in chemical nature act in a similar way. Carriers of toxic properties in the molecule of a poisonous substance are certain atoms or groups of atoms - "toxophores" (CO, S, SO 2, CN, As, etc.), and the degree of action and its shades are determined by the accompanying groups - "auxotoxes". The degree of toxicity, or the strength of the action of toxic substances, is determined by the minimum damaging concentration and duration of action (exposure): it is the higher, the smaller these two values. The nature of toxicity is determined by the routes of penetration of toxic substances into the body and the predominant effect on certain organs of the body. According to the nature of the action, toxic substances are often divided into asphyxiating (affecting the respiratory tract), lachrymal ("lachrymators"), poisonous (acting on the blood or nervous system), abscesses (acting on the skin), irritating or "sneezing" (acting on the mucous membranes of the nose and upper respiratory tract), etc.; the characteristic is given according to the "predominant" effect, since the effect of toxic substances on the body is very complex. Combat concentrations of various toxic substances vary from a few mg to ten-thousandths of a mg per liter of air. Some poisonous substances cause fatal injuries when introduced into the body in doses of about 1 mg or even less.

Production of poisonous substances requires the presence in the country of large reserves of affordable and cheap raw materials and a developed chemical industry. Most often, for the production of toxic substances, the equipment and personnel of existing chemical plants for peaceful purposes are used; sometimes special installations are also built (Edgwood chemical arsenal in the USA). The peaceful chemical industry has raw materials in common with the production of poisonous substances, or it produces ready-made semi-finished products. The main branches of the chemical industry, which provide material for poisonous substances, are: the electrolysis of table salt, coke-benzene and wood-acetomethyl production, the production of bound nitrogen, arsenic compounds, sulfur, distillery, etc. Artificial paint factories were usually adapted for the production of poisonous substances.

Determination of poisonous substances can be done in the laboratory or in the field. The laboratory definition represents the precise or simplified chemical analysis of poisonous substances by conventional methods of analytical chemistry. Field determination aims to: 1) detect the presence of poisonous substances in air, water or soil, 2) establish the chemical nature of the applied poisonous substance and 3) determine its concentration, if possible. The 1st and 2nd tasks are resolved simultaneously with the help of special chemical reagents - "indicators" that change their color or release a precipitate in the presence of a certain poisonous substance. For colorful reactions, liquid solutions or papers impregnated with such solutions are used; for sedimentary reactions - only liquids. Reagent d. b. specific, sensitive, acting quickly and sharply, not changing during storage; use of it d. b. simple. The 3rd task is in rare cases solvable in the field; for this, special devices are used - gas detectors, based on known chemical reactions and allowing, by the degree of color change or by the amount of precipitation, to approximately judge the concentration of toxic substances. The detection of poisonous substances using physical methods (changes in the diffusion rate) or physicochemical methods (changes in electrical conductivity as a result of the hydrolysis of poisonous substances), which has been proposed many times, turned out to be very unreliable in practice.

Protection against toxic substances can be individual and collective (or mass). The first is achieved by the use of gas masks that isolate the respiratory tract from the surrounding air or purify the inhaled air from the admixture of toxic substances, as well as special insulating clothing. The means of collective protection include gas shelters; measures of mass protection - degassing, used mainly for persistent poisonous substances and consisting in the neutralization of poisonous substances directly on the ground or on objects with the help of "neutralizing" chemical materials. In general, all methods of protection against poisonous substances come down either to the creation of impenetrable partitions (mask, clothing), or to filtering the air used for breathing (filtering gas mask, gas shelter), or to such a process that would destroy poisonous substances (degassing).

Peaceful use of poisonous substances. Some poisonous substances (chlorine, phosgene) are starting materials for various branches of the peaceful chemical industry. Others (chloropicrin, hydrocyanic acid, chlorine) are used in the fight against pests of plants and bakery products - fungi, insects and rodents. Chlorine is also used for bleaching, for sterilizing water and food. Some poisonous substances are used for preservative impregnation of wood, in the gold industry, as solvents, etc. There are attempts to use poisonous substances in medicine for medicinal purposes. However, most poisonous substances, the most valuable in combat terms, have no peaceful use.

chemical weapons called poisonous substances and the means of their combat use.
Chemical weapon is intended to defeat and exhaust the enemy's manpower in order to hinder (disorganize) the activities of his troops and rear facilities. It can be used with the help of aviation, missile troops, artillery, engineering troops.
poisonous substances called toxic chemical compounds intended for mass destruction of manpower, contamination of the area, weapons and military equipment.
Poisonous substances form the basis of chemical weapons.
At the time of combat use, agents can be in a vaporous, aerosol, or liquid-drop state.
In vaporous and finely dispersed aerosol state(smoke, fog) are transferred agents used to contaminate the surface layer of air. WATER in the form of vapor and fine aerosol, carried by the wind, affects manpower not only in the area of ​​application, but also at a considerable distance. The depth of propagation of OM in rough and wooded areas is 1.5-3 times less than in open areas. Hollows, ravines, forest and shrub massifs can be places of OM stagnation and changes in the direction of its distribution.
To infect the terrain, weapons and military equipment, uniforms, equipment and skin of people, agents are used in the form coarse aerosols and droplets. The terrain, weapons and military equipment and other objects contaminated in this way are a source of human injury. Under these conditions, the personnel will be forced to stay in protective equipment for a long time, due to the resistance of the OV, which will reduce the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Agents can enter the body through the respiratory organs, through wound surfaces, mucous membranes and skin. With the use of contaminated food and water, the penetration of OM is carried out through gastrointestinal tract. Most of the agents are cumulative, that is, they have the ability to accumulate a toxic effect.

2. Classification of poisonous substances. The main types of poisonous substances. The main properties of toxic substances and their effect on the human body

2.1. Classification of toxic substances

According to the tactical purpose, OVs are divided into four groups: lethal agents; temporarily incapacitating manpower; annoying and educational.
According to the speed of the onset of the damaging effect, there are: high-speed agents; not having a period of latent action and slow-acting agents; with a latency period.
Depending on the duration of the retention of the damaging ability of lethal agents, they are divided into two groups:

• persistent agents that retain their damaging effect for several hours and days;
• unstable agents, the damaging effect of which lasts only a few tens of minutes after their application. Some agents, depending on the method and conditions of use, can behave as persistent and unstable agents.

K OV lethal action, to defeat or disable manpower for a long time, include: GB (sarin), GD (soman), VX (Vi-X), HD (distilled mustard), HN (nitrogen mustard), AC (hydrocyanic acid), CK (cyanogen chloride), CG (phosgene).

2.2. The main types of poisonous substances. The main properties of toxic substances and their effect on the human body

Poison nerve agents
Sarin (GB), Soman (GD), Vi-X (VX), which affect the nervous system, enter the body through the respiratory system, skin and digestive tract. In addition, they cause a strong constriction of the pupils of the eyes (miosis). To protect against them, you need not only a gas mask, but also personal protective equipment for the skin.
Sarin It is a volatile colorless or yellowish liquid with almost no odor. Does not freeze in winter. It is miscible with water and organic solvents in any ratio and is highly soluble in fats. It is resistant to water, so it can be used to contaminate water sources for a long time. At ordinary temperatures, it is rapidly destroyed by solutions of alkalis and ammonia. Upon contact with human skin, uniforms, shoes, wood and other porous materials, as well as food, Sarin is quickly absorbed into them.
The effect of sarin on the human body develops quickly, without a period of latent action. When exposed to lethal doses observed: constriction of the pupils (miosis), salivation, difficulty breathing, vomiting, incoordination, loss of consciousness, attacks of severe convulsions, paralysis and death. Not fatal doses of sarin cause lesions of varying severity depending on the dose received. At a small dose, there is a temporary weakening of vision (miosis) and tightness in the chest.
Sarin vapors under average meteorological conditions can spread downwind up to 20 km from the place of application.
Soman- a colorless and almost odorless liquid, very similar in its properties to sarin; acts on the human body like sarin, but is 5-10 times more toxic than it.
The means of application, detection and degassing of soman, as well as the means of protection against it, are the same as for the use of sarin.
The peculiarity of soman is that it infects the area for longer periods than sarin. The danger of lethal injury in areas infected with soman persists in summer up to 10 hours (in places of ammunition explosions - up to 30 hours), in winter - up to 2-3 days, and the danger of temporary damage to vision persists in summer - up to 2-4 days, in winter - up to 2-3 weeks. Soman vapors in dangerous concentrations can spread downwind for tens of kilometers from the place of application. Armament and military equipment contaminated with soman drops, after its degassing, can be operated without skin protection, but it poses a danger of injury through the respiratory system.
V-X (VX) - a slightly volatile colorless liquid, odorless and does not freeze in winter. The area infected with VX remains dangerous for damage in summer up to 7-15 days, and in winter - for the entire period before the onset of heat. VX infects water for a very long time. The main combat state of VX is aerosol. Aerosols infect surface layers of air and spread in the direction of the wind to a considerable depth (up to 5-20 km); they infect manpower through the respiratory organs, open areas of the skin and ordinary summer army uniforms, and also infect the terrain, weapons, military equipment and open water bodies. The impregnated uniform reliably protects against VX aerosols. The toxicity of VX in terms of action through the respiratory organs is 10 times higher than that of sarin, and in a liquid drop state through bare skin - hundreds of times. For fatal injury through naked skin and when ingested with water and food, 2 mg of RH is sufficient. Inhalation symptoms are similar to those caused by sarin. When exposed to VX aerosol through the skin, the symptoms of poisoning may not appear immediately, but after a while - up to several hours. In this case, muscle twitching appears at the site of exposure to the OB, then convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. In addition, there may be difficulty in breathing, salivation, depression of the central nervous system.

Poisonous substances of blistering action
The main agent of blistering action is mustard gas. Used technical (H) and distillation (purified) mustard gas (HD).
Mustard gas(distilled) - a colorless or light yellow liquid with a slight odor, heavier than water. At a temperature of about 14 ° C it freezes. Technical mustard has a dark brown color and a strong smell, reminiscent of the smell of garlic or mustard. Mustard gas evaporates slowly in air. It is poorly soluble in water; dissolves well in alcohol, gasoline, kerosene, acetone and other organic solvents, as well as in various oils and fats. Easily absorbed into wood, leather, textiles and paint.
Mustard gas decomposes slowly in water, retaining its damaging properties for a long time; when heated, decomposition proceeds faster. Aqueous solutions of calcium hypochlorites destroy mustard gas. Mustard has a multilateral action. It affects the skin and eyes, respiratory tract and lungs. When it enters the gastrointestinal tract with food and water at a dose of 0.2 g, it causes fatal poisoning. Mustard gas has a latency period and a cumulative effect.

Poisonous substances of general poisonous action
Poisonous substances of general toxic action, getting into the body, disrupt the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. This is one of the fastest operating systems. Among the agents of general toxic action are hydrocyanic acid(AC) And cyanogen chloride(CK).
Hydrocyanic acid- a colorless, rapidly evaporating liquid with a smell of bitter almonds. In open areas it quickly disappears (in 10-15 minutes); does not affect metals and fabrics. It can be used in chemical aerial bombs of large caliber. In combat conditions, the body is affected only by inhalation of contaminated air, affecting the circulatory and central nervous systems. When inhaled vapors of hydrocyanic acid appear metallic taste in the mouth, throat irritation, dizziness, weakness, feeling of fear. In severe poisoning, the symptoms intensify and, in addition, painful shortness of breath appears, the pulse slows down, the pupils dilate, loss of consciousness occurs, severe convulsions appear, involuntary separation of urine and feces occurs. At this stage, the convulsive tension of the muscles is replaced by their complete relaxation, breathing becomes superficial; this stage ends with respiratory arrest, cardiac paralysis and death.
cyanogen chloride- colorless, more volatile than hydrocyanic acid, liquid with a sharp unpleasant odor. According to its toxic properties, cyanogen chloride is similar to hydrocyanic acid, but unlike it, it also irritates the upper respiratory tract and eyes.

Asphyxiating poisonous substances
The main representative of this group of OM is phosgene(CG).
Phosgene- a colorless gas, heavier than air, with an odor reminiscent of the smell of rotten hay or rotten fruit. Poorly soluble in water, good in organic solvents. It does not affect metals in the absence of moisture, in the presence of moisture it causes rust.
Phosgene is a typical unstable agent used to contaminate the air. The cloud of contaminated air formed during the explosion of ammunition can retain a damaging effect for no more than 15-20 minutes; in the forest, ravines and other places sheltered from the wind, stagnation of contaminated air is possible and the damaging effect persists for up to 2-3 hours.
Phosgene acts on the respiratory organs, causing acute pulmonary edema. This leads to a sharp violation of the supply of oxygen from the air to the body and eventually leads to death.
The first signs of damage (weak eye irritation, lacrimation, dizziness, general weakness) disappear with the exit from the infected atmosphere - a period of latent action begins (4-5 hours), during which damage to the lung tissue develops. Then the condition of the affected person worsens sharply: a cough appears, blue lips and cheeks, headache, shortness of breath and suffocation. There is an increase in body temperature up to 39°C. Death occurs in the first two days from pulmonary edema. At high concentrations of phosgene (>40 g/m3), death occurs almost instantly.

Psychochemical poisons
OV temporarily incapacitating manpower appeared relatively recently. These include psychochemical substances that act on the nervous system and cause mental disorders. Currently, psychochemical OB is a substance that has the code Bi-Zet (BZ).
BZ- crystalline substance white color, without smell. Combat state - aerosol (smoke). It is transferred to a combat state by the method of thermal sublimation. BZ is equipped with aviation chemical bombs, cassettes, checkers. Unprotected people are affected through the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal tract. The period of latent action is 0.5-3 hours, depending on the dose. With the defeat of BZ, the functions of the vestibular apparatus are disturbed, vomiting begins. Subsequently, for approximately 8 hours, there is a numbness, speech retardation, after which a period of hallucinations and arousal begins. BZ aerosols, spreading downwind, settle on the terrain, uniforms, weapons and military equipment, causing their persistent infection.

Irritant poisonous substances
The irritating agents include adamsite(DM), chloroacetophenone(CN) CS(CS) and C-Ar(CR). Annoying agents are mainly used for police purposes. These chemicals cause eye and respiratory irritation. Highly toxic irritating agents, such as CS and CR, can be used in a combat situation to exhaust enemy manpower.
CS (CS) - a white or light yellow crystalline substance, sparingly soluble in water, highly soluble in acetone and benzene, at low concentrations irritates the eyes (10 times stronger than chloroacetophenone) and upper respiratory tract, at high concentrations causes burns to exposed skin and respiratory paralysis . At concentrations of 5·10-3 g/m3, personnel fail instantly. Damage symptoms: burning and pain in the eyes and chest, lacrimation, runny nose, cough. When leaving the contaminated atmosphere, the symptoms gradually disappear within 1-3 hours. CS can be used in the form of an aerosol (smoke) using aircraft bombs and clusters, artillery shells, mines, aerosol generators, hand grenades and cartridges. Combat use is carried out in the form of recipes. Depending on the recipe, it is stored on the ground from 14 to 30 days.
C-Ar (CR) - RH irritant, much more toxic than CS. It is a solid, slightly soluble in water. It has a strong irritating effect on human skin.
The means of application, signs of damage and protection are the same as for CS.

toxins
Toxins are chemical substances of protein nature of microbial, plant or animal origin, capable of causing disease and death when they enter the human or animal body. In the US Army, XR (X-Ar) and PG (PJ) substances are on the staff supply, related to new highly toxic agents.
SubstanceXR- botulinum toxin of bacterial origin, entering the body, causes severe damage to the nervous system. Belongs to the class of lethal agents. XR is a fine white to yellowish brown powder that is readily soluble in water. It is used in the form of aerosols by aircraft, artillery or rockets, easily penetrates into the human body through the mucous surfaces of the respiratory tract, digestive tract and eyes. It has a latent period of action from 3 hours to 2 days. Signs of defeat appear suddenly and begin with a sensation great weakness, general depression, nausea, vomiting, constipation. 3-4 hours after the onset of the development of symptoms of the lesion, dizziness appears, the pupils dilate and stop responding to light. Blurred vision, often double vision. The skin becomes dry, there is a dry mouth and a feeling of thirst, severe pain in the stomach. There are difficulties in swallowing food and water, speech becomes slurred, the voice is weak. When not fatal poisoning recovery occurs in 2-6 months.
SubstancePG- staphylococcal enterotoxin - is used in the form of aerosols. It enters the body with inhaled air and with contaminated water and food. It has a latency period of several minutes. Damage symptoms are similar to food poisoning. Initial signs of damage: salivation, nausea, vomiting. Violent cutting in abdomen and watery diarrhoea. The highest degree of weakness. Symptoms last 24 hours, all this time the affected person is incompetent.
First aid for poisoning. Stop the entry of the toxin into the body (put on a gas mask or respirator when in a contaminated atmosphere, rinse the stomach in case of poisoning with contaminated water or food), deliver it to a medical center and provide qualified medical care.

3. Signs of the use of poisonous substances by the enemy and methods of protection against them

3.1. Signs of the use of poisonous substances by the enemy
For the most part, chemical weapons are planned to be used at night and in adverse weather conditions. In this case, it is possible to combine the use of HE with nuclear strikes, high-explosive fragmentation, incendiary and smoke ammunition and the combination of different types of HE, as well as the use of previously unknown HE, ammunition and methods of attack.
The main features of the application chemical rockets are: the rupture of the warhead in the air and the simultaneous (almost instantaneous) rupture of a large number of bombs when they hit the ground or above it.
At break chemical bomb, due to equipping it with a small amount of explosive charge, a deaf explosion is obtained, shallow craters form in the ground.
About application aviation chemical cassettes it can be judged if in the air at a certain height a large number of elements are poured out of a dropped container, which are scattered over a large area and at the same time the sound of the explosion is not heard.
characteristic feature application of agents from pouring aviation devices is the formation of an aerosol streak from a low-flying aircraft and the appearance of small drops of liquid on the terrain and objects located on it.

3.2. Ways to protect against poisonous substances
In the area of ​​​​explosive ammunition with sarin and in the immediate vicinity of it, such concentrations of OM can be created that one breath is enough to get hit. Therefore, if an ammunition explodes nearby, you must immediately hold your breath, close your eyes, put on a gas mask and exhale sharply. Sarin is used to contaminate the air (vapours, mist), but some of it remains on the ground in the form of droplets when munitions explode (especially in craters from explosive munitions). Therefore, it is possible to be without gas masks in areas where ammunition with sarin was used, only after a few hours in summer, and after 1-2 days in winter. When units operate on vehicles in an atmosphere contaminated with sarin, personnel must use gas masks, and when operating on contaminated terrain on foot, in addition, protective stockings are put on. When the enemy uses sarin on objects located in the forest, in the lowlands, especially at night and in the absence of wind, large concentrations of its vapors can form, therefore, when staying in such an area for a long time, it is necessary to use not only a gas mask for protection, but also a protective kit in the form of overalls . In addition to personal protective equipment, collective protective equipment is used to protect personnel from being hit by sarin and other POVs: hermetic mobile objects (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, etc.), shelters, as well as dugouts under the parapet, blocked slots and communication passages that protect against drops and aerosols. Mobile objects and shelters are equipped with filter-ventilation kits that ensure the stay of personnel in them without personal protective equipment. Sarin vapors can be adsorbed by uniforms and, after leaving the contaminated air, evaporate again, contaminating clean air. This is especially dangerous when entering enclosed spaces and shelters.
Means of protection against somana the same as for Sarin.
When personnel are infected with drop-liquid agents of the type VX and their aerosols, it is necessary to immediately decontaminate exposed areas of the body with the help of PPI and replace contaminated uniforms. Weapons and military equipment contaminated with VX droplets pose a danger for 1-3 days in summer and 30-50 days in winter. After the degassing of weapons and military equipment, the danger of injury through the respiratory organs is excluded, but damage is possible upon contact with unprotected areas of the body due to the agents absorbed into the paint, wood, rubber, and then coming to the surface. Degassing of weapons and military equipment contaminated with VX is carried out with degassing solution No. 1, degassing RD formulation or aqueous suspensions of calcium hypochlorites.
For protection against mustard gas a gas mask and skin protection equipment are used: a combined-arms protective kit (OZK) and a combined-arms complex protective suit (OKZK). To protect against mustard gas vapors, a gas mask and OKZK are used, and from drop-liquid mustard gas - a gas mask and OZK (with a raincoat, worn in sleeves or in the form of overalls). If drops of mustard gas get on the skin or uniforms, the infected areas are treated with PPI. The eyes are washed with a 2% solution of baking soda or clean water. The mouth and nasopharynx are also rinsed with a 2% solution of baking soda (clean water). For the degassing of weapons and military equipment contaminated with mustard gas, degassing solution No. 1, degassing formulation RD, aqueous suspensions and slurries of calcium hypochlorites are used; solvents and aqueous solutions of detergents can be used; degassing is carried out using degassing machines and various degassing kits. Terrain, trenches, trenches and other structures are degassed with aqueous suspensions and slurries of calcium hypochlorites. Linen, uniforms and equipment are degassed by boiling, as well as hot air or a vapor-air-ammonia mixture in special degassing machines.
Products, fodder, fats and oils contaminated with liquid mustard gas are unsuitable for consumption and must be destroyed. Water contaminated with mustard gas is neutralized in special installations.
A remedy for hydrocyanic acid is a combined arms gas mask. Hydrocyanic acid does not infect the terrain, weapons and military equipment. In case of infection of premises and closed objects, they must be ventilated. Food products contaminated with hydrocyanic acid can be consumed after airing.
Means of protection against cyanogen chloride the same as for hydrocyanic acid.
Defence from phosgene- combined arms gas mask. In case of phosgene damage, it is necessary to put on a gas mask on the affected person, remove it from the atmosphere of the RH, create peace and prevent the body from cooling; artificial respiration do not allowed. It is necessary to quickly deliver the injured to the point of medical care.
Degassing of phosgene in the field is not required; in case of infection of premises and closed objects, they must be ventilated. Phosgene practically does not infect water. Products exposed to phosgene vapors are suitable for consumption after ventilation (until the odor disappears) or after heat treatment.
Defence from BZ- gas mask. Degassing of weapons and military equipment contaminated with BZ can be carried out by treatment with aqueous suspensions of HA, as well as by washing with water, solvents and detergent solutions. Uniforms are to be shaken and washed.
Defence from CS (CS) - gas mask and shelters with filtering equipment.
When used by an enemy C-Ar, it must be remembered that the eyes should not be rubbed; you need to get out of the contaminated atmosphere, face the wind, rinse your eyes and rinse your mouth with water or a 2% solution of baking soda.
protection from toxins are a gas mask or respirator, weapons, military equipment and shelters equipped with filter-ventilation installations.

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Engineering training

fire training

Combat toxic chemicals (BTCS) are such chemical compounds that, when used, are capable of infecting people and animals over large areas, penetrating various structures, infecting terrain and water bodies. The means of their application and delivery to the target can be rockets, aerial bombs, artillery shells and mines, chemical land mines, as well as pouring aircraft devices (VAL). BTXV can be used in a drop-liquid state, in the form of gas (steam) and aerosol (fog, smoke). They can penetrate the human body and infect it through the respiratory, digestive, skin and eyes. In terms of their damaging properties, poisonous substances differ from other military means in their ability to penetrate, together with air, into various unpressurized structures and objects and infect people in them, maintain their damaging effect in the air, on the ground, on various objects for several hours to several days and even weeks. Vapors of toxic substances are capable of spreading in the direction of the wind to considerable distances from areas where chemical weapons are directly used.

In order to timely identify the emerging danger of poisoning and take the necessary protective measures, it is necessary to have a general understanding of toxic substances, phototoxins and toxic potent substances.

BTW classification

According to the effect on the human body, BTXV are divided into nerve-paralytic, suffocating, general poisonous, blistering, toxins (botulinum, phytotoxicants, staphylococcal enterotoxin and ricin), irritating and psychochemical.

BTXV nerve agents - highly toxic organophosphorus substances (V-gases, sarin, etc.) affect the nervous system. These are the most dangerous BTXVs. They affect the body through the respiratory system, the skin (in the vaporous and drip-liquid state), as well as when they enter the gastrointestinal tract along with food and water (that is, they have a multilateral damaging effect). Their resistance in summer is more than a day, in winter - several weeks and even months; a small amount of them is enough to defeat a person.

Signs of damage are: salivation, constriction of the pupils, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, convulsions and paralysis.

For protection, a gas mask and protective clothing are used. To provide first aid to the affected person, a gas mask is put on him and an antidote is administered using a syringe tube or by taking a tablet. In case of contact with nerve-paralytic BTXV on the skin or clothing, the affected areas are treated with liquid from an individual anti-chemical package.

BTXV of suffocating effect (phosgene, etc.) affect the body through the respiratory organs. Signs of defeat are a sweetish, unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth, cough, dizziness, general weakness. The peculiarity of the impact of this BTXV is the presence of a latent (incubation) period, when these phenomena disappear after leaving the focus of infection, and the victim feels normal for 4-6 hours, unaware of the lesion. During this period (latent action) pulmonary edema develops. Then breathing may sharply worsen, a cough with copious sputum, headache, fever, shortness of breath, palpitations will appear, and death will occur. For protection it is necessary to use a gas mask.

To provide assistance, a gas mask is put on the victim, they take him out of the infected area, cover him warmly and provide peace. Under no circumstances should artificial respiration be given.

BTXV of general toxic action (hydrocyanic acid, chlorine cyan, etc.) affect the body through the respiratory system. Signs of damage are a metallic taste in the mouth, throat irritation, dizziness, weakness, nausea, severe convulsions, paralysis. For protection it is necessary to use a gas mask. To help the victim, it is necessary to crush the ampoule with the antidote and insert it under the gas mask helmet-mask. In severe cases, the victim is given artificial respiration, warmed up and sent to the medical center.

BTXV of blistering action (mustard gas, etc.) have a multilateral damaging effect. In the drop-liquid and vapor state, they affect the skin and eyes, when inhaled vapors - the respiratory tract and lungs, when ingested with food and water - the digestive organs. A characteristic feature of mustard gas is the presence of a period of latent action (the lesion is not detected immediately, but after a while - 4 hours or more). Signs of damage are reddening of the skin, the formation of small blisters, which then merge into large ones and burst after two or three days, turning into ulcers that are difficult to heal. With any local lesions, HTS causes a general poisoning of the body, which manifests itself in fever, malaise, and complete loss of legal capacity.

poisonous substances - toxic chemical compounds that have certain physical and chemical properties that make it possible to use them in combat to destroy manpower, contaminate terrain and military equipment.

Poisonous substances form the basis of chemical weapons. Being in a combat state, they infect the human body, penetrating through the respiratory system, skin and wounds from fragments of chemical munitions. In addition, a person can get injured as a result of eating contaminated food and water, as well as exposure to toxic agents on the mucous membranes of the eyes and nasopharynx.

Combat state OB - such a state of matter in which it is used on the battlefield in order to achieve the maximum effect in the defeat of manpower. Types of combat state of OV: steam, aerosol, drops. Qualitative differences in these combat states are determined mainly by the particle size of the fragmented OM.

Steam formed by molecules or atoms of matter.

Aerosols are heterogeneous (heterogeneous) systems consisting of solid or liquid particles of a substance suspended in the air. Particles of a substance with a size of 10 -6 -10 -3 cm form finely dispersed, practically not settling aerosols; particles with a size of 10 -2 cm form coarse aerosols, and therefore, in the gravitational field, they settle relatively quickly on various surfaces.

Drops - larger particles with a size of 0.5 . 10 -1 cm and above, which, unlike coarse aerosols, settle (fall on the surface) quickly.

Agents in the state of vapor or fine aerosol contaminate the air and infect manpower through the respiratory organs (inhalation injury). The quantitative characteristic of air contamination with vapors and fine aerosols is mass concentrationFROM – the amount of OM per unit volume of contaminated air (g/m 3).

OM in the form of a coarse aerosol or droplets infect the area, military equipment, uniforms, protective equipment, water bodies and are capable of infecting unprotected personnel both at the time of the cloud of contaminated air settling and after the settling of OM particles due to their evaporation from contaminated surfaces, as well as upon contact personnel with these surfaces and when using contaminated food and water. A quantitative characteristic of the degree of contamination of various surfaces is infection density Qm is the amount of OM per unit area of ​​the contaminated surface (g/m2).

The quantitative characteristic of contamination of water sources is OM concentration, contained in a unit volume of water (g / m 3).

Poisonous substances form the basis of chemical weapons.

2 Educational question Classification of toxic substances according to their effect on a living organism. Ways to protect against ov.

In the US Army, the most widely used classification is based on the division of known agents according to tactical purposes and physiological effects on the body.

By tactical purpose OVs are divided into groups according to the nature of their damaging effect: deadly, temporarily incapacitating manpower, annoying and training.

By physiological effect on the body distinguish OV:

nerve agents: GA (tabun), GB (sarin), GD (soman), VX (Vi-X);

blistering: H (technical mustard), HD (distilled mustard), BT and HO (mustard mustard formulations), HN (nitrogen mustard);

general toxic action: AC (hydrocyanic acid), SC (cyanogen chloride);

asphyxiants: CG (phosgene);

psychochemical: BZ (B-Z);

irritants: CN (chloroacetophenone), DM (adamsite), CS (CS), CR (CI-Ar).

All toxic substances, being chemical compounds, have a chemical name, for example: AC - formic acid nitrile; HD, dichlorodiethyl sulfide; CN is phenyl chloromethyl ketone. Some OM also received conditional names of various origins, for example: mustard gas, sarin, soman, adamsite, phosgene. In addition, for practical use (for marking ammunition, containers for explosive agents), symbols are used - ciphers. In the US Army, OB ciphers usually consist of two letters (for example, the previously mentioned GB, VX, BZ, CS). Other ciphers may be used in other NATO armies.

Substances VX, GB, HD, BZ, CS, CR, as well as toxins have received the greatest development recently. Botulinum toxin and staphylococcal enterotoxin can be used as agents.

By speed of attack distinguish:

high-speed agents that do not have a period of latent action, which in a few minutes lead to death or to loss of combat capability as a result of temporary damage (GB, GD, AC, CK, CS, CR);

slow-acting agents that have a period of latent action and lead to damage after some time (VX, HD, CG, BZ).

The speed of the damaging effect, for example, for VX, depends on the type of combat state and the route of exposure to the body. If in the state of coarse aerosol and drops the skin-resorptive effect of this agent is slow, then in the state of vapor and fine aerosol its inhalation damaging effect is achieved quickly. The speed of action of the OV also depends on the size of the dose that has entered the body. At high doses, the effect of OB manifests itself much faster.

depending on the duration of the retention of the destructive ability of lethal agents are divided into two groups:

persistent agents that retain their damaging effect for several hours and days (VX, GD, HD);

unstable agents, the damaging effect of which persists for several tens of minutes after their application.

OB GB, depending on the method and conditions of use, can behave both as stable and unstable OB. In summer conditions, it behaves as an unstable agent, especially when infecting non-absorbent surfaces; in winter conditions, it behaves as a persistent agent.

IN capitalist countries producing OM, depending on the level of production they are divided into the following groups:

service OBs (produced in large quantities and are in service; in the USA these include VX GB, HD, BZ, CS, CR);

reserve OBs (toxic substances that are not currently produced, but, if necessary, can be produced by the chemical industry in sufficient quantities; in the USA, this group includes AS CG, HN, CN, DM).

In the texts of the IV century BC. e. an example is given of the use of poisonous gases to combat enemy digging under the walls of a fortress. The defenders pumped smoke from burning mustard and wormwood seeds into the underground passages with the help of furs and terracotta pipes. Toxic gases caused suffocation and even death.

In ancient times, attempts were also made to use OM in the course of hostilities. Toxic fumes were used during the Peloponnesian War of 431-404 BC. e. The Spartans placed pitch and sulfur in logs, which were then placed under the city walls and set on fire.

Later, with the advent of gunpowder, they tried to use bombs filled with a mixture of poisons, gunpowder and resin on the battlefield. Released from catapults, they exploded from a burning fuse (the prototype of a modern remote fuse). Exploding bombs emitted clouds of poisonous smoke over enemy troops - poisonous gases caused bleeding from the nasopharynx when using arsenic, skin irritation, blisters.

In medieval China, a cardboard bomb stuffed with sulfur and lime was created. During a naval battle in 1161, these bombs, falling into the water, exploded with a deafening roar, spreading poisonous smoke in the air. The smoke formed from the contact of water with lime and sulfur caused the same effects as modern tear gas.

As components in the creation of mixtures for equipping bombs, the following were used: hooked mountaineer, croton oil, soap tree pods (to generate smoke), arsenic sulfide and oxide, aconite, tung oil, spanish flies.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants of Brazil tried to fight the conquistadors by using poisonous smoke obtained from the burning of red pepper against them. This method was later repeatedly used during uprisings in Latin America.

In the Middle Ages and later, chemical agents continued to attract attention for solving military problems. So, in 1456, the city of Belgrade was protected from the Turks by influencing the attackers with a poisonous cloud. This cloud arose from the combustion of a toxic powder with which the inhabitants of the city sprinkled rats, set them on fire and released them towards the besiegers.

A range of preparations, including compounds containing arsenic and the saliva of rabid dogs, were described by Leonardo da Vinci.

In 1855, during the Crimean campaign, the English admiral Lord Dandonald developed the idea of ​​fighting the enemy by using a gas attack. In his memorandum dated August 7, 1855, Dandonald proposed to the British government a project to take Sevastopol with the help of sulfur vapor. Lord Dandonald's memorandum, together with explanatory notes, was transmitted by the English government of the time to a committee in which leading role played by Lord Playfar. This committee, having studied all the details of Lord Dandonald's project, was of the opinion that the project was quite feasible, and the results it promised could certainly be achieved; but in themselves the results are so terrible that no honest enemy should use this method.
Therefore, the committee decided that the project could not be accepted, and Lord Dandonald's note should be destroyed. The project proposed by Dandonald was not rejected at all because "no honest enemy should take advantage of this method."
From the correspondence between Lord Palmerston, head of the English government at the time of the war with Russia, and Lord Panmur, it follows that the success of the method proposed by Dandonald raised the strongest doubts, and Lord Palmerston, together with Lord Panmur, were afraid to get into a ridiculous position in case of failure of the experiment they sanctioned.

If we take into account the level of the soldiers of that time, there is no doubt that the failure of the attempt to smoke the Russians out of their fortifications with the help of sulfuric smoke would not only make the Russian soldiers laugh and raise the spirits, but would even more discredit the British command in the eyes of the allied forces (the British , French, Turks and Sardinians).

The negative attitude towards poisoners and the underestimation of this type of weapon by the military (or rather, the lack of need for new, more deadly weapons) deterred the use of chemicals for military purposes until the middle of the 19th century.

The first tests of chemical weapons in Russia were carried out in the late 50s of the 19th century on the Volkovo field. Shells filled with cyanide cacodyl were blown up in open log cabins where there were 12 cats. All cats survived. The report of Adjutant General Barantsev, in which incorrect conclusions were drawn about the low effectiveness of poisonous substances, led to a disastrous result. Work on testing shells filled with explosive agents was stopped and resumed only in 1915.

During the First World War, chemicals were used in huge quantities - about 400 thousand people were affected by 12 thousand tons of mustard gas. In total, during the years of the First World War, 180 thousand tons of ammunition of various types filled with poisonous substances were produced, of which 125 thousand tons were used on the battlefield. More than 40 types of OV have passed combat testing. The total losses from chemical weapons are estimated at 1.3 million people.

The use of poisonous substances during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (the United States refused to support the Hague Conference of 1899.).

In 1907 Great Britain acceded to the declaration and accepted its obligations.

France agreed to the 1899 Hague Declaration, as did Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The parties agreed on the non-use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases for military purposes.

Citing the exact wording of the declaration, Germany and France used non-lethal tear gases in 1914.

The initiative in the use of combat weapons on a large scale belongs to Germany. Already in the September battles of 1914 on the Marne and on the Ain, both belligerents felt great difficulties in supplying their armies with shells. With the transition in October-November to positional warfare, there was no hope left, especially for Germany, of overpowering the enemy covered by powerful trenches with the help of ordinary artillery shells. OVs, on the other hand, have a powerful property of hitting a living enemy in places that are not accessible to the action of the most powerful projectiles. And Germany was the first to embark on the path of widespread use of combat agents, having the most developed chemical industry.

Immediately after the declaration of war, Germany began to experiment (at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute) with cacodyl oxide and phosgene in order to be able to use them militarily.
In Berlin, the Military Gas School was opened, in which numerous depots of materials were concentrated. A special inspection was also located there. In addition, a special chemical inspection A-10 was formed under the Ministry of War, specifically dealing with issues of chemical warfare.

The end of 1914 marked the beginning of research activities in Germany to find combat agents, mainly artillery ammunition. These were the first attempts to equip shells of combat OV.

The first experiments on the use of combat agents in the form of the so-called "N2 projectile" (10.5-cm shrapnel with the replacement of bullet equipment in it with dianiside sulfate) were made by the Germans in October 1914.
On October 27, 3,000 of these shells were used on the Western Front in an attack on Neuve Chapelle. Although the irritating effect of the shells turned out to be small, but, according to German data, their use facilitated the capture of Neuve Chapelle.

German propaganda stated that such projectiles were no more dangerous than picric acid explosives. Picric acid, another name for melinitis, was not a poisonous substance. It was an explosive substance, during the explosion of which asphyxiating gases were released. There were cases when soldiers who were in shelters died of suffocation after the explosion of a shell filled with melinite.

But at that time there was a crisis in the production of shells (they were withdrawn from service), and besides, the high command doubted the possibility of obtaining a mass effect in the manufacture of gas shells.

Then Dr. Gaber suggested using gas in the form of a gas cloud. The first attempts to use combat agents were carried out on such an insignificant scale and with such an insignificant effect that no measures were taken by the allies in the line of anti-chemical defense.

Leverkusen became the center for the production of combat agents, where a large number of materials were produced, and where the Military Chemical School was transferred from Berlin in 1915 - it had 1,500 technical and command personnel and, especially, several thousand workers in production. 300 chemists worked non-stop in her laboratory in Gust. Orders for poisonous substances were distributed among various factories.

On April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack, chlorine was released from 5730 cylinders. Within 5-8 minutes, 168-180 tons of chlorine were fired at the front of 6 km - 15 thousand soldiers were defeated, of which 5 thousand died.

The picture shows a German gas balloon attack in October 1915.

This gas attack was a complete surprise for the Allied troops, but already on September 25, 1915, the British troops carried out their test chlorine attack.

In further gas attacks, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine with phosgene were used. For the first time, a mixture of phosgene and chlorine was first used as an agent by Germany on May 31, 1915, against Russian troops. At the front of 12 km - near Bolimov (Poland), 264 tons of this mixture were produced from 12 thousand cylinders. In 2 Russian divisions, almost 9 thousand people were put out of action - 1200 died.

Since 1917, the warring countries began to use gas launchers (a prototype of mortars). They were first used by the British. The mines contained from 9 to 28 kg of a poisonous substance, firing from gas guns was carried out mainly with phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin.

In the photo: English gas cannons being loaded with gas cylinders.

German gas guns were the cause of the "miracle at Caporetto", when, after shelling from 912 gas guns with mines with phosgene of the Italian battalion, all life was destroyed in the Isonzo river valley.

The combination of gas cannons with artillery fire increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. So on June 22, 1916, for 7 hours of continuous shelling, German artillery fired 125 thousand shells from 100 thousand liters. suffocating agents. The mass of poisonous substances in cylinders was 50%, in shells only 10%.

On May 15, 1916, during an artillery shelling, the French used a mixture of phosgene with tin tetrachloride and arsenic trichloride, and on July 1, a mixture of hydrocyanic acid with arsenic trichloride.

On July 10, 1917, the Germans on the Western Front used diphenylchlorarsine for the first time, causing a severe cough even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Therefore, in the future, diphenylchlorarsine was used together with phosgene or diphosgene to defeat enemy manpower.

A new stage in the use of chemical weapons began with the use of a persistent blister agent (B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide), which was first used by German troops near the Belgian city of Ypres. On July 12, 1917, within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing 125 tons of B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide were fired at the Allied positions. 2,490 people received injuries of varying degrees.

In the picture: gaps in front of the wire barriers of chemical shells.

The French called the new agent "mustard gas", after the place of first use, and the British called it "mustard gas" because of the strong specific smell. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but it was only in 1918 that it was possible to establish the production of a new OM, which is why it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice).

In total, over the period from April 1915 to November 1918, more than 50 gas balloon attacks were carried out by German troops, by the British 150, by the French 20.

In the Russian army, the high command has a negative attitude towards the use of shells with OM. Impressed by the gas attack carried out by the Germans on April 22, 1915, on the French front in the Ypres region, as well as in May on the eastern front, it was forced to change its views.

On August 3 of the same 1915, an order appeared on the formation of a special commission under the State Agrarian University for the preparation of asphyxiants. As a result of the work of the GAU commission for the preparation of suffocating agents, in Russia, first of all, the production of liquid chlorine was established, which was brought from abroad before the war.

In August 1915, chlorine was produced for the first time. In October of the same year, phosgene production began. Since October 1915, special chemical teams began to form in Russia to carry out gas balloon attacks.

In April 1916, the Chemical Committee was formed at the GAU, which also included a commission for the preparation of suffocating agents. Thanks to the energetic actions of the Chemical Committee, an extensive network of chemical plants (about 200) was created in Russia. Including a number of plants for the manufacture of poisonous substances.

New plants for poisonous substances were put into operation in the spring of 1916. By November, the number of manufactured agents reached 3,180 tons (about 345 tons were produced in October), and the 1917 program planned to increase the monthly output to 600 tons in January and to 1,300 t in May.

The first gas balloon attack by Russian troops was carried out on September 5-6, 1916 in the Smorgon region. By the end of 1916, a tendency emerged to shift the center of gravity of chemical warfare from gas-balloon attacks to artillery firing with chemical projectiles.

Russia has taken the path of using chemical shells in artillery since 1916, manufacturing 76-mm chemical grenades of two types: asphyxiating (chloropicrin with sulfuryl chloride) and poisonous (phosgene with stannous chloride, or vensinite, consisting of hydrocyanic acid, chloroform, chlorine arsenic and tin), the action of which caused damage to the body and, in severe cases, death.

By the autumn of 1916, the army's requirements for 76-mm chemical shells were fully satisfied: the army received 15,000 shells every month (the ratio of poisonous and asphyxiating shells was 1 to 4). The supply of the Russian army with large-caliber chemical projectiles was hampered by the lack of shell cases, which were fully intended for equipping with explosives. Russian artillery began to receive chemical mines for mortars in the spring of 1917.

As for gas cannons, which were successfully used as a new means of chemical attack on the French and Italian fronts from the beginning of 1917, Russia, which withdrew from the war in the same year, did not have gas cannons.

In the mortar artillery school, formed in September 1917, it was only supposed to begin experiments on the use of gas throwers. Russian artillery was not rich enough in chemical shells to use mass shooting, as was the case with Russia's allies and opponents. She used 76 mm chemical grenades almost exclusively in a positional warfare situation, as an auxiliary tool along with firing ordinary projectiles. In addition to shelling enemy trenches immediately before an attack by enemy troops, firing chemical projectiles was used with particular success to temporarily cease fire on enemy batteries, trench guns and machine guns, to assist their gas attack - by shelling those targets that were not captured by a gas wave. Shells filled with OM were used against enemy troops accumulated in a forest or in another sheltered place, his observation and command posts, sheltered communications.

At the end of 1916, the GAU sent 9,500 hand-held glass grenades with asphyxiating liquids to the active army for combat testing, and in the spring of 1917, 100,000 hand-held chemical grenades. Those and other hand grenades were thrown at 20 - 30 m and were useful in defense and especially during retreat, in order to prevent the pursuit of the enemy.

During the Brusilov breakthrough in May-June 1916, the Russian army got some front-line stocks of German OM as trophies - shells and containers with mustard gas and phosgene. Although the Russian troops were subjected to German gas attacks several times, these weapons themselves were rarely used - either due to the fact that chemical munitions from the allies arrived too late, or due to the lack of specialists. And at that time, the Russian military did not have any concept of using OV.

All the chemical arsenals of the old Russian army at the beginning of 1918 were in the hands of the new government. During the Civil War, chemical weapons were used in small quantities by the White Army and the British occupation forces in 1919.

The Red Army used poisonous substances in the suppression of peasant uprisings. According to unverified data, for the first time the new government tried to use the OV during the suppression of the uprising in Yaroslavl in 1918.

In March 1919, another anti-Bolshevik Cossack uprising broke out in the Upper Don. On March 18, the artillery of the Zaamursky regiment fired on the rebels with chemical shells (most likely with phosgene).

The massive use of chemical weapons by the Red Army dates back to 1921. Then, under the command of Tukhachevsky, a large-scale punitive operation was launched in the Tambov province against Antonov's rebel army.

In addition to punitive actions - the execution of hostages, the creation of concentration camps, the burning of entire villages, they used chemical weapons in large quantities (artillery shells and gas cylinders). One can definitely talk about the use of chlorine and phosgene, but perhaps there was also mustard gas.

Since 1922, with the help of the Germans, they have been trying to establish their own production of combat agents in Soviet Russia. Bypassing the Versailles agreements, on May 14, 1923, the Soviet and German sides sign an agreement on the construction of a plant for the production of poisonous substances. Technological assistance in the construction of this plant was provided by the Stolzenberg concern within the framework of the Bersol joint stock company. They decided to deploy production in Ivashchenkovo ​​(later Chapaevsk). But for three years, nothing really was done - the Germans were clearly not eager to share technology and were playing for time.

On August 30, 1924, the production of its own mustard gas began in Moscow. The first industrial batch of mustard gas - 18 pounds (288 kg) - from August 30 to September 3 was issued by the Aniltrest Moscow Experimental Plant.
And in October of the same year, the first thousand chemical shells were already equipped with domestic mustard gas. The industrial production of OM (mustard gas) was first established in Moscow at the Aniltrest experimental plant.
Later, on the basis of this production, a research institute for the development of optical agents with a pilot plant was established.

Since the mid-1920s, a chemical plant in the city of Chapaevsk has become one of the main centers for the production of chemical weapons, producing military agents until the start of World War II.

During the 1930s, the production of combat agents and the supply of ammunition with them was deployed in Perm, Berezniki (Perm Region), Bobriky (later Stalinogorsk), Dzerzhinsk, Kineshma, Stalingrad, Kemerovo, Shchelkovo, Voskresensk, Chelyabinsk.

After the First World War and up to the Second World War, public opinion in Europe was opposed to the use of chemical weapons - but among the industrialists of Europe, who ensured the defense of their countries, the opinion prevailed that chemical weapons should be an indispensable attribute of warfare.

At the same time, through the efforts of the League of Nations, a number of conferences and rallies were held to promote the prohibition of the use of poisonous substances for military purposes and talk about the consequences of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported conferences that condemned the use of chemical warfare in the 1920s.

In 1921, the Washington Conference on Arms Limitation was convened, chemical weapons were the subject of discussion by a specially created subcommittee, which had information on the use of chemical weapons during the First World War, which intended to propose a ban on the use of chemical weapons, even more than conventional means of warfare.

The subcommittee decided: the use of chemical weapons against the enemy on land and on water cannot be allowed. The opinion of the subcommittee was supported by a poll public opinion in USA.
The treaty has been ratified by most countries, including the US and the UK. In Geneva, on June 17, 1925, the "Protocol on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous and Other Similar Gases and Bacteriological Agents" was signed. This document was subsequently ratified by more than 100 states.

However, at the same time, the United States began to expand the Edgewood arsenal.

In Britain, many perceived the possibility of using chemical weapons as a fait accompli, fearing that they would be at a disadvantage, as in 1915.

And as a consequence of this, further work continued on chemical weapons, using propaganda for the use of toxic substances.

Chemical weapons were used in large quantities in "local conflicts" of the 1920s and 1930s: by Spain in Morocco in 1925, by Japanese troops against Chinese troops from 1937 to 1943.

The study of poisonous substances in Japan began, with the help of Germany, in 1923, and by the beginning of the 1930s, the production of the most effective 0V was organized in the arsenals of Tadonuimi and Sagani.
Approximately 25% of the set of artillery and 30% of the aviation ammunition of the Japanese army was in chemical equipment.

In the Kwantung Army, Manchurian Detachment 100, in addition to creating bacteriological weapons, carried out work on the research and production of chemical poisonous substances (the 6th division of the "detachment").

In 1937, on August 12, in the battles for the city of Nankou and on August 22, in the battles for the Beijing-Suyuan railway, the Japanese army used shells filled with OM.
The Japanese continued to widely use poisonous substances in China and Manchuria. The losses of Chinese troops from poisonous substances amounted to 10% of the total.

The figure shows a chemical projectile and its action.

Italy used chemical weapons in Ethiopia (from October 1935 to April 1936). Mustard gas was used with great efficiency by the Italians, despite the fact that Italy acceded to the Geneva Protocol in 1925. Almost all the fighting of the Italian units was supported by a chemical attack with the help of aircraft and artillery. We also used pouring aviation devices that dissipate liquid 0V.
415 tons of blistering agents and 263 tons of asphyxiants were sent to Ethiopia.
In the period from December 1935 to April 1936, Italian aviation carried out 19 large-scale chemical raids on the cities and towns of Abyssinia, using up 15,000 aviation chemical bombs. Of the total losses of the Abyssinian army of 750 thousand people, about a third were losses from chemical weapons. A large number of civilians also suffered.

Specialists of the IG Farbenindustrie concern helped the Italians to establish the production of agents that are so effective in Ethiopia. The IG Farben concern, created for complete dominating in the dyes and organic chemistry markets, united six of the largest chemical companies in Germany.

British and American industrialists saw the concern as an empire similar to the Krupp arms empire, considering it a serious threat and made efforts to dismember it after the Second World War.

The superiority of Germany in the production of poisonous substances is an indisputable fact: the well-established production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied forces in 1945.

In Germany, immediately after the Nazis came to power, by order of Hitler, work was resumed in the field of military chemistry. Starting in 1934, in accordance with the plan of the High Command of the Ground Forces, these works acquired a purposeful offensive character, in line with the aggressive policy of the Nazi government.

First of all, at the newly created or modernized enterprises, the production of known agents began, which showed the greatest combat effectiveness during the First World War, based on the creation of their stock for 5 months of chemical warfare.

The high command of the fascist army considered it sufficient to have about 27 thousand tons of poisonous substances such as mustard gas and tactical formulations based on it: phosgene, adamsite, diphenylchlorarsine and chloroacetophenone.

At the same time, intensive work was carried out to search for new poisonous substances among the most diverse classes of chemical compounds. These works in the field of skin-abscess agents were marked by the receipt in 1935 - 1936. nitrogen mustard (N-lost) and "oxygen mustard" (O-lost).

In the main research laboratory of the concern I.G. The Farben industry in Leverkusen revealed the high toxicity of some fluorine- and phosphorus-containing compounds, a number of which were subsequently adopted by the German army.

In 1936 tabun was synthesized, which began to be produced on an industrial scale from May 1943, in 1939 sarin, more toxic than tabun, was obtained, and at the end of 1944, soman. These substances marked the emergence of a new class of deadly nerve agents in the army of fascist Germany, many times superior in their toxicity to the toxic substances of the First World War.

In 1940, in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria), a large plant owned by IG Farben was launched for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40 thousand tons.

In total, in the pre-war and first war years in Germany, about 20 new technological installations for the production of OM were built, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons. They were located in Ludwigshafen, Hüls, Wolfen, Urdingen, Ammendorf, Fadkenhagen, Seelz and other places.

In the city of Dühernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland), there was one of the largest production facilities for organic matter. By 1945, Germany had 12 thousand tons of herd in stock, the production of which was nowhere else.

The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during World War II remain unclear to this day. According to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use chemical weapons during the war because he believed that the USSR had a larger number of chemical weapons.
Another reason could be the insufficiently effective effect of OM on enemy soldiers equipped with chemical protection equipment, as well as their dependence on weather conditions.

Separate work on obtaining tabun, sarin, soman was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not occur until 1945. During the years of World War II in the United States, 135 thousand tons of toxic substances were produced at 17 installations, half of the total volume was accounted for mustard gas. Mustard gas was equipped with about 5 million shells and 1 million air bombs. Initially, mustard gas was supposed to be used against enemy landings on the sea coast. During the period of the emerging turning point in the course of the war in favor of the Allies, serious fears arose that Germany would decide to use chemical weapons. This was the basis for the decision of the American military command to supply mustard gas ammunition to the troops on the European continent. The plan provided for the creation of stocks of chemical weapons for the ground forces for 4 months. military operations and for the Air Force - for 8 months.

Transportation by sea was not without incident. So, on December 2, 1943, German aircraft bombed ships that were in the Italian port of Bari in the Adriatic Sea. Among them was the American transport "John Harvey" with a cargo of chemical bombs in equipment with mustard gas. After the damage to the transport, part of the OM mixed with the spilled oil, and mustard gas spread over the surface of the harbor.

During the Second World War, extensive military biological research was also carried out in the United States. For these studies, the biological center Kemp Detrick, opened in 1943 in Maryland (later it was called Fort Detrick), was intended. There, in particular, the study of bacterial toxins, including botulinum toxins, began.

In the last months of the war in Edgewood and the Fort Rucker Army Aeromedical Laboratory (Alabama), searches and tests of natural and synthetic substances that affect the central nervous system and cause mental or physical disorders in humans in negligible doses were launched.

In close cooperation with the United States of America, work was carried out in the field of chemical and biological weapons in Great Britain. So, in 1941, at the University of Cambridge, the research group of B. Saunders synthesized a poisonous nerve agent - diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP, PF-3). Soon, a process plant for the production of this chemical agent began to operate at Sutton Oak near Manchester. Main scientific center Great Britain became Porton Down (Salisbury, Wiltshire), founded in 1916 as a military chemical research station. The production of poisonous substances was also carried out at a chemical plant in Nenskyuk (Cornwell).

In the picture on the right 76mm. cannon chemical projectile

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), by the end of the war, about 35 thousand tons of poisonous substances were stored in the UK.

After the Second World War, OV was used in a number of local conflicts. The facts of the use of chemical weapons by the US army against the DPRK (1951-1952) and Vietnam (60s) are known.

From 1945 to 1980, only 2 types of chemical weapons were used in the West: lacrimators (CS: 2-- tear gas) and defoliants - chemicals from the herbicide group.

CS alone, 6,800 tons were used. Defoliants belong to the class of phytotoxicants - chemical substances that cause the leaves to fall off plants and are used to unmask enemy objects.

In the laboratories of the United States, the purposeful development of means for the destruction of vegetation was started back in the years of the Second World War. The level of development of herbicides reached by the end of the war, according to US experts, could allow them practical use. However, research for military purposes continued, and only in 1961 was a "suitable" test site chosen. The use of chemicals to destroy vegetation in South Vietnam was initiated by the US military in August 1961 with the authorization of President Kennedy.

All areas of South Vietnam were treated with herbicides - from the demilitarized zone to the Mekong Delta, as well as many areas of Laos and Kampuchea - anywhere and everywhere, where, according to the Americans, there could be detachments of the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam or lay their communications.

Along with woody vegetation, fields, gardens and rubber plantations also began to be affected by herbicides. Since 1965, these chemicals have been sprayed over the fields of Laos (especially in its southern and eastern parts), and two years later - already in the northern part of the demilitarized zone, as well as in the areas adjacent to it in the DRV. Forests and fields were cultivated at the request of the commanders of the American units stationed in South Vietnam. The spraying of herbicides was carried out with the help of not only aircraft, but also special ground devices that were available in the American troops and Saigon units. Herbicides were especially intensively used in 1964-1966 to destroy mangrove forests on the southern coast of South Vietnam and on the banks of shipping channels leading to Saigon, as well as forests of the demilitarized zone. Two US Air Force aviation squadrons were fully engaged in operations. The use of chemical anti-vegetative agents reached its maximum size in 1967. Subsequently, the intensity of operations fluctuated depending on the intensity of hostilities.

In South Vietnam, during Operation Ranch Hand, the Americans tested 15 different chemicals and formulations for the destruction of crops, plantations of cultivated plants and trees and shrubs.

The total amount of chemicals for the destruction of vegetation used by the US armed forces from 1961 to 1971 amounted to 90 thousand tons, or 72.4 million liters. Four herbicidal formulations were predominantly used: purple, orange, white and blue. The formulations found the greatest use in South Vietnam: orange - against forests and blue - against rice and other crops.

Within 10 years, between 1961 and 1971, almost a tenth of South Vietnam's territory, including 44% of all its forest areas, was treated with defoliants and herbicides, designed respectively to remove leaves and completely destroy vegetation. As a result of all these actions, mangrove forests (500 thousand hectares) were almost completely destroyed, 60% (about 1 million hectares) of the jungle and 30% (more than 100 thousand hectares) of lowland forests were affected. The yield of rubber plantations has fallen by 75% since 1960. From 40 to 100% of crops of bananas, rice, sweet potatoes, papaya, tomatoes, 70% of coconut plantations, 60% of hevea, 110 thousand hectares of casuarina plantations were destroyed. Of the numerous species of trees and shrubs of the humid tropical forest in the areas affected by herbicides, only a few species of trees and several species of thorny grasses, not suitable for livestock feed, remained.

The destruction of vegetation has seriously affected the ecological balance of Vietnam. In the affected areas, out of 150 species of birds, 18 remained, amphibians and even insects almost completely disappeared. The number and composition of fish in the rivers has decreased. Pesticides violated the microbiological composition of soils, poisoned plants. The species composition of ticks has also changed, in particular, ticks carrying dangerous diseases have appeared. Mosquito species have changed, in areas remote from the sea, instead of harmless endemic mosquitoes, mosquitoes characteristic of coastal mangrove forests have appeared. They are the main carriers of malaria in Viet Nam and neighboring countries.

The chemical agents used by the United States in Indochina were directed not only against nature, but also against people. The Americans in Vietnam used such herbicides and with such high consumption rates that they posed an undoubted danger to humans. For example, picloram is as persistent and just as poisonous as DDT, which is universally banned.

By that time, it was already known that poisoning with 2,4,5-T poison leads to embryonic deformities in some domestic animals. It should be noted that these pesticides were used in huge concentrations, sometimes 13 times higher than allowed and recommended for use in the United States itself. Spraying with these chemicals was subjected not only to vegetation, but also to people. Especially destructive was the use of dioxin, which "by mistake", as the Americans claimed, was part of the orange recipe. In total, several hundred kilograms of dioxin were sprayed over South Vietnam, which is toxic to humans in fractions of a milligram.

US specialists could not have been unaware of its deadly properties - at least from cases of injuries at the enterprises of a number of chemical firms, including the results of an accident at a chemical plant in Amsterdam in 1963. Being a persistent substance, dioxin is still found in Vietnam in areas where the orange formulation is used, both in surface and deep (up to 2 m) soil samples.

This poison, getting into the body with water and food, causes cancer, especially of the liver and blood, massive congenital deformities of children and numerous violations of the normal course of pregnancy. Medical and statistical data obtained by Vietnamese doctors indicate that these effects appear many years after the end of the use of the orange recipe by Americans, and there is reason to fear for their increase in the future.

The “non-lethal”, according to the Americans, agents that were used in Vietnam include - CS - Orthochlorobenzylidene malononitrile and its prescription forms CN - Chloracetophenone DM - Adamsite or chlordihydrophenarsazine CNS - Prescription form of chloropicrin BAE - Bromoacetone BZ - Quinuclidyl-3-benzilate Substance CS in concentrations of 0.05-0.1 mg/m3 are irritating, 1-5 mg/m3 become unbearable, above 40-75 mg/m3 can cause death within a minute.

At a meeting of the International Center for the Study of War Crimes, held in Paris in July 1968, CS was found to be a lethal weapon under certain conditions. These conditions (the use of CS in large quantities in a confined space) existed in Vietnam.

Substance CS - such a conclusion was made by the Russell Tribunal at Roskilde in 1967 - is a toxic gas prohibited by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The amount of the CS substance ordered by the Pentagon in 1964-1969 for use in Indochina was published in the Congressional Record magazine on June 12, 1969 (CS - 1009 tons, CS-1 - 1625 tons, CS-2 - 1950 tons).

It is known that in 1970 it was spent even more than in 1969. With the help of CS gas, the civilian population survived from the villages, the partisans were expelled from caves and shelters, where deadly concentrations of the CS substance were easily created, turning these shelters into "gas chambers".

The use of gases has probably been effective, judging by the significant increase in the amount of C5 used by them in Vietnam. Another proof of this is that since 1969, a lot of new means have appeared for spraying this toxic substance.

Chemical warfare affected not only the population of Indochina, but also thousands of participants in the American campaign in Vietnam. So, contrary to the assertions of the US Department of Defense, thousands of American soldiers were victims of a chemical attack by their own troops.

Many Vietnam War veterans have demanded treatment for everything from ulcers to cancer because of this. In Chicago alone, there are 2,000 veterans with symptoms of dioxin exposure.

Combat agents were widely used during the protracted Iran-Iraq conflict. Until 1991, Iraq possessed the largest stocks of chemical weapons in the Middle East and carried out extensive work to further improve its arsenal.

Among the agents available to Iraq were substances of general poison (hydrocyanic acid), blistering (mustard gas) and nerve agent (sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), VX) action. Iraq's chemical munitions included more than 25 Scud warheads, about 2,000 aerial bombs and 15,000 rounds (including mortars and MLRS), as well as landmines

Work on own production of OV began in Iraq in the mid-1970s. By the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi army had 120-mm mortar mines and 130-mm artillery shells equipped with mustard gas.

During the Iran-Iraq conflict, mustard gas was widely used by Iraq. Iraq was the first to use OB during the Iran-Iraq war and subsequently widely used it both against Iran and in operations against the Kurds (according to some sources, OV bought in Egypt or the USSR was used against the latter back in 1973-1975).

Since 1982, the use of tear gas (CS) by Iraq has been noted, and since July 1983 - mustard gas (in particular, a 250-kg mustard gas bomb from Su-20 aircraft).

In 1984, Iraq began the production of tabun (the first case of its use was noted at the same time), and in 1986 - sarin. At the end of 1985, the factory capacities made it possible to produce 10 tons of all types of agents per month, and already more than 50 tons per month at the end of 1986. At the beginning of 1988, the capacities were increased to 70 tons of mustard gas, 6 tons of tabun and 6 tons of sarin (i.e. almost 1,000 tons per year). Intensive work was underway to establish the production of VX.

In 1988, during the storming of the city of Fao, the Iraqi army bombed Iranian positions using poisonous gases, most likely unstable nerve agent formulations.

In the incident near Halabja, about 5,000 Iranians and Kurds were injured in a gas attack.

Iran committed to the creation of chemical weapons in response to Iraq's use of military agents during the Iran-Iraq war. The lag in this area even forced Iran to buy a large amount of gas (CS), but it soon became clear that it was ineffective for military purposes.

Since 1985 (and possibly since 1984) there have been isolated cases of Iranian use of chemical projectiles and mortar mines, but, apparently, it was then about captured Iraqi ammunition.

In 1987-1988, there were isolated cases of Iran using chemical munitions filled with fozgen or chlorine and hydrocyanic acid. Before the end of the war, the production of mustard gas and, possibly, nerve agents was established, but they did not have time to use them.

In Afghanistan Soviet troops, according to Western journalists, also used chemical weapons. Perhaps the journalists "thinned the paint" in order to once again emphasize the cruelty of Soviet soldiers. To "smoke out" dushmans from caves and underground shelters, irritating agents - chloropicrin or CS - could be used. One of the main sources of funding for dushmans was the cultivation of opium poppy. To destroy poppy plantations, pesticides may have been used, which could also be perceived as the use of military agents.

Note by Veremeev Yu.G. . Soviet combat regulations did not provide for the conduct of hostilities with the use of toxic substances, and the troops were not trained in this. CS was never included in the supply nomenclature of the Soviet Army, and the amount of chloropicrin (CN) supplied to the troops was only enough to train soldiers to use a gas mask. At the same time, for smoking dushmans from karezes and caves, ordinary household gas is quite suitable, which does not fall under the category of OM in any way, but which, having filled it with a karez, can be easily blown up with an ordinary lighter and destroy dushmans not with "mean" poisoning, but with an "honest" volumetric explosion . And if there is no household gas at hand, then the exhaust gases of a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle are very suitable. So to accuse the Soviet Army of using poisonous substances in Afghanistan is at least absurd, because there are enough methods and substances using which it is quite possible to achieve the desired results without exposing yourself to accusations of violating the Convention. And the whole experience of using OM by different countries after the First World War clearly shows that chemical weapons are ineffective and can give a limited result (incomparable with the difficulties and dangers for themselves, and the costs) only in confined spaces against people who do not know the most elementary methods protection against OV.

On April 29, 1997 (180 days after ratification by the 65th country, which became Hungary), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction came into force. This also indicates the approximate date of commencement of the activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which will ensure the implementation of the provisions of the convention (headquartered in The Hague).

The document was announced for signing in January 1993. In 2004, Libya acceded to the agreement. Unfortunately, the situation with the "Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction" strongly resembles the situation with the "Ottawa Convention on the Ban of Anti-Personnel Mines". In both cases, the most modern types of weapons were withdrawn from the conventions. This can be seen in the example of the problem of binary chemical weapons. The decision to organize the production of binary weapons in the United States not only cannot ensure an effective agreement on chemical weapons, but even completely takes the development, production and stockpiling of binary weapons out of control, since the most ordinary chemical products can be components of binary poisonous substances. In addition, binary weapons are based on the idea of ​​obtaining new types and compositions of poisonous substances, which makes it pointless to draw up in advance any lists of 0V to be banned.

Part 2
Three generations of Combat OV
(1915 - 1970s.)

First generation.

Chemical weapons of the first generation include four groups of poisonous substances:
1) RH of blistering action (persistent RH sulfur and nitrogen mustards, lewisite).
2) OV of general toxic action (unstable OV of hydrocyanic acid). ;
3) asphyxiant agents (unstable agents phosgene, diphosgene);
4) OS of irritant action (adamsite, diphenylchlorarsine, chloropicrin, diphenylcyanarsine).

April 22, 1915, when the German army in the small Belgian town of Ypres used a chlorine gas attack against the Anglo-French troops of the Entente, should be considered the official date for the start of the large-scale use of chemical weapons (precisely as weapons of mass destruction). A huge, weighing 180 tons (from 6000 cylinders) poisonous yellow-green cloud of highly toxic chlorine, having reached the advanced positions of the enemy, struck 15 thousand soldiers and officers within minutes; five thousand died immediately after the attack. The survivors either died in hospitals or became disabled for life, having received silicosis of the lungs, severe damage to the organs of vision and many internal organs.

In the same year, 1915, on May 31, on the Eastern Front, the Germans used an even more highly toxic poisonous substance called "phosgene" (full carbonic acid chloride) against Russian troops. 9 thousand people died. May 12, 1917 another battle at Ypres.

And again, the German troops use chemical weapons against the enemy - this time a chemical warfare agent of skin - blistering and general toxic action - 2,2 dichlorodiethyl sulfide, which later received the name "mustard gas".

Other poisonous substances were also tested in the First World War: diphosgene (1915), chloropicrin (1916), hydrocyanic acid (1915). irritating effect - diphenylchlorarsine, diphenylcyanarsine.

During the years of the First World War, all the belligerent states used 125,000 tons of poisonous substances, including 47,000 tons by Germany. About 1 ml of people suffered from the use of chemical weapons during the war. human. At the end of the war, the list of potentially promising and already tested agents included chloracetophenone (lachrymator), which has a strong irritating effect, and, finally, a-lewisite (2-chlorovinyldichloroarsine).

Lewisite immediately attracted close attention as one of the most promising chemical warfare agents. Its industrial production began in the USA even before the end of the World War; our country began to produce and accumulate lewisite reserves already in the first years after the formation of the USSR.

The end of the war only for a while slowed down the work on the synthesis and testing of new types of chemical warfare agents.

However, between the first and second world wars, the arsenal of lethal chemical weapons continued to grow.

In the 1930s, new poisonous substances of blistering and general toxic effects were obtained, including phosgenoxime and "nitrogen mustards" (trichlorethylamine and partially chlorinated derivatives of triethylamine).

Second generation.

To the already known three groups, a new, fifth one is added:
5) Nerve agents.

Beginning in 1932, different countries Intensive studies are being carried out on organophosphorus poisonous substances with a nerve-paralytic effect - chemical weapons of the second generation (sarin, soman, tabun). Due to the exceptional toxicity of organophosphorus poisonous substances (OPS), their combat effectiveness increases dramatically. In the same years, chemical munitions were being improved. In the 50s, a group of FOVs called "V-gases" (sometimes "VX-gases") was added to the family of second-generation chemical weapons.

First obtained in the USA and Sweden, V-gases of a similar structure will soon appear in service in the chemical troops and in our country. V-gases are ten times more toxic than their "brothers in arms" (sarin, soman and tabun).

third generation.

A new, sixth group of poisonous substances is being added, the so-called "temporarily incapacitating"

:6) psycho-chemical agents

In the 1960s and 1970s, third-generation chemical weapons were developed, which included not only new types of poisonous substances with unforeseen mechanisms of destruction and extremely high toxicity, but also more advanced methods of their use - cluster chemical munitions, binary chemical weapons, etc. R.

The technical idea of ​​binary chemical munitions is that they are equipped with two or more initial components, each of which can be non-toxic or low-toxic substance. In the flight of a projectile, rocket, bomb or other ammunition to the target, the initial components are mixed in it with the formation as the final product chemical reaction military poison. In this case, the role of a chemical reactor is performed by ammunition.

In the post-war period, the problem of binary chemical weapons was of secondary importance for the United States. During this period, the Americans forced the equipping of the army with new nerve agents, but since the beginning of the 60s, American specialists have again returned to the idea of ​​​​creating binary chemical munitions. They were forced to do this by a number of circumstances, the most important of which was the lack of significant progress in the search for poisonous substances with ultra-high toxicity, i.e., poisonous substances of the third generation.

In the first period of the implementation of the binary program, the main efforts of American specialists were directed to the development of binary compositions of standard nerve agents, VX and sarin.

Along with the creation of standard binary 0V, the main efforts of specialists, of course, are focused on obtaining more efficient 0V. Serious attention was paid to the search for binary 0V with the so-called intermediate volatility. Government and military circles explained the increased interest in work in the field of binary chemical weapons by the need to solve the problems of the safety of chemical weapons during production, transportation, storage and operation.

An important stage in the development of binary munitions is the actual design development of projectiles, mines, bombs, missile warheads and other means of application.

To this day, the debate continues about why Hitler did not use chemical weapons during the Second World War, even when Germany was on the verge of death and he had nothing to lose. And this despite the fact that it was in Germany that by the beginning of the war enough poisonous substances themselves had been accumulated, and there were quite enough means of their delivery in the troops. Why did Stalin, for whom, according to the assurances of the democratic press, to destroy several hundred thousand even his own soldiers, did not amount to anything, did not use chemical weapons even in the desperate days of 41 years. After all, at least the Germans had everything ready for the use of OM, and in the USSR, they didn’t seem to experience a shortage of OM.

Suffice it to recall the famous German six-barreled 15cm Nebelwerfer 41 mortars (range 6.4 km, projectile weight 35.48 kg, of which 10 kg. OV). A battalion of such mortars had 18 installations and could fire 108 mines in 10 seconds. Until the end of the war, 5679 installations were produced.
Plus, in 1940, 9552 jet 320mm were received. installations Shweres Wurfgeraet 40 (Holz).
Plus since 1942. 1487 larger-caliber five-barreled mortars 21cm Nebelwerfer 42 entered the troops.
Plus, in the years 42-43, 4003 Shweres Wurfgeraet 41 (Stahl) rocket launchers.
Plus, in 43, 380 six-barreled 30cm Nebelwerfer 42 chemical mortars of 300mm caliber were received. with twice the range.

But there were also chemical shells for conventional guns and howitzers, chemical aerial bombs and pouring devices for aircraft.

If we turn to the highly authoritative reference book by Miller-Hillebrandt "The Land Army of Germany 1933-1945", we will find out that by the beginning of the war with the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht had 4 regiments of chemical mortars, 7 separate battalions of chemical mortars, 5 degassing units and 3 road degassing detachment (armed with rocket launchers Shweres Wurfgeraet 40 (Holz)) and 4 headquarters of chemical regiments for special purposes. All of them were in the reserve of the General Staff. Ground Forces(OKH), and by June 41 Army Group North received 1 regiment and 2 battalions of chemical mortars, Army Group Center 2 regiments and 4 battalions, Army Group South 2 regiments and 1 battalion.

In the military diaries of Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Land Forces, already on July 5, 1940, we find an entry about preparations for chemical warfare. On September 25, Inspector General of the Chemical Troops Oksner reports to Halder about smoke bombs with adamsite that have entered the Wehrmacht. From the same record it can be seen that in Zossen there is a school of chemical troops and there are chemical schools in each army.
From the record dated October 31, it turns out that France also had chemical weapons (now they were at the disposal of the Wehrmacht).
On December 24, Halder writes in his diary that the number of chemical troops of the Wehrmacht has increased tenfold compared to the pre-war strength, that the troops are receiving new chemical mortars, that chemical property parks have been prepared in Warsaw and Krakow.

Further, in Halder's notes for 41-42, we see how Inspector General of the Chemical Troops Oksner courts him, how he tries to draw the attention of the Chief of the General Staff to the possibilities of chemical weapons, how he proposes to use them. But only twice do we find in Halder's record that these weapons were used by the Germans. This is May 12, 1942. against the partisans and on June 13 against the Red Army men who took refuge in the Adzhimushkay quarries. And that's it!

Note. However, as it turns out from a source very competent in this matter (website www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Waffen/minen.html), it was not asphyxiating gas that was injected into the Adzhimushkay quarries near Kerch, but a mixture of carbon oxide and ethylene, which was not a poisonous substance but a gaseous explosive. Explosions of this mixture (which also gave very limited results), which is actually the forerunner of volumetric explosion ammunition, collapsed in the quarries and destroyed Red Army soldiers. The accusation of the use of poisonous substances, presented by the Soviet Union to the then commander of the 17th German Army in the Crimea, General Oberst Janeke (Jaenecke), was withdrawn by the Soviet side, and he was released from captivity in 1955.

Note that Ochsner is not courting Hitler, but Halder, and that the battalions and regiments of chemical mortars were in the second echelons of the army groups, and so were the chemical munitions. This indicates that the question of the use or non-use of chemical weapons was a matter of the level of the commander of the army group, well, at most, the chief of the General Staff.

Therefore, the thesis that it was Hitler who was afraid to give the command to use poisonous substances due to possible retribution from the Allies or the Red Army is at least untenable. After all, if we proceed from this thesis, then Hitler should have abandoned the massive bombing of England (the British, along with the Americans, had dozens of times more heavy bombers), from the use of tanks (the Red Army had them four times in 1941). more), from the use of artillery, from the destruction of prisoners, Jews, commissars. After all, you can get retribution for everything.

But the fact remains that neither the Germans nor the Germans used chemical weapons in World War II. Soviet Union, nor allies. It did not find application in the post-war period in various numerous local wars of the second half of the 20th century. There have been attempts, of course. But all these individual isolated cases just indicate that the effectiveness of chemical strikes was either completely zero every time, or extremely low, so low that no one in this conflict was tempted to use it again and again.

Let's try to understand the true reasons for such a cool attitude towards chemical weapons of the generals of both the Wehrmacht and the generals of the Red Army, Her Majesty's Army, the US Army, and all other generals.

The first and most significant reason for the refusal of the troops of all countries from the use of chemical weapons is their absolute dependence on meteorological conditions (in other words, the weather), and such a dependence that no other weapon has known and does not know. Let's analyze this question in more detail.

RH depends primarily on the nature of the movement of air masses. Here we distinguish two components - horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal movement of air, or more simply - the wind is characterized by direction and speed.
Too strong wind quickly dissipates the RH, reduces its concentration to safe values ​​and prematurely removes it from the target area.
Too weak wind leads to the stagnation of the OM cloud in one place, does not make it possible to cover the required areas, and if the OM is also unstable, then it will lose its damaging properties.

Consequently, a commander who decides to rely on chemical weapons in battle will have to wait until the wind has the right speed. But the enemy will not wait.

But it's still half the trouble. The real trouble is that it is impossible to predict the direction of the wind at the right moment, to predict its behavior. Not only can the wind change its direction dramatically in a very wide range up to the opposite in a matter of minutes, but also in relatively small areas of the terrain (several hundred square meters) it can have different directions at the same time. At the same time, the terrain, various buildings and structures also significantly affect the direction of the wind. We constantly encounter this even in the city, when on a windy day the wind hits, then in the face, around the corner it hits us in the side, and on the opposite side of the street in the back. All this is very well felt by yachtsmen, whose art of driving vessels is based precisely on the ability to notice a change in the direction and strength of the wind in time, and correctly respond to it. We add that at different heights the direction of the wind in the same place can be very different, i.e., say, at the top of a hill the wind blows in one direction, and at its sole in a completely different direction.

When weather reports report, for example, "... a northwestern wind of 3-5 meters per second ...", this only means a general trend in the movement of air masses within very large areas (hundreds of square kilometers) ..

All this means that by releasing several hundred tons of gas from cylinders or shelling a section of the territory with chemical projectiles, no one can definitely say in which direction and at what speed the OM cloud will move and whom it will cover. But the commander needs to know exactly where, when and what losses can be inflicted on the enemy. There will be no sense in the fact that an entire regiment or even a division will be etched from the enemy where our troops cannot advance for some reason or even take advantage of the results of a chemical attack. No commander will agree to tailor his plans to where and when the gas cloud will take effect. After all, tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of tanks and thousands of guns cannot run along and across the front behind a cloud of OM, or even run away from it, their own.

But we considered only the horizontal component of the movement of air masses (and RH, respectively). There is also a vertical component. Air, scoundrel, not only runs back and forth, it also strives to fly up and down.

There are three types of vertical air movement - convection, inversion and isotherm.

Convection- the earth is warmer than the air. The air, heated near the ground, rises. For OV, this is very bad, because. the OM cloud quickly flies up and the greater the difference in temperatures, the faster. But the height of a person is only 1.5-1.8 meters.

Isotherm- air and earth have the same temperature. There is practically no vertical movement. This is the best mode for OB. Although vertically, the behavior of the OB becomes predictable.

Inversion- The ground is colder than the air. The ground layer of air cools and becomes heavy, pressed against the ground. For OV, this is usually good, because. the OB cloud remains near the ground. But also bad, because. heavy air flows down, leaving the high places free. Each of us could observe this in the early morning, when the fog spreads over the ground and over the water. It's just the air near the ground has cooled down so much that it condenses into fog. But OB also condenses. Of course, if the enemy soldiers are in the trenches and dugouts, then they are the ones who are most exposed to the action of the OM. But it is enough to move to a hill, as the OB is already powerless against these soldiers.

Note that the state of the air strongly depends on the time of year and time of day, and even on whether the sun is shining (heating the earth), or whether it is covered by clouds, this state can change very quickly from convection to inversion ..

These two factors alone are already enough for the ironic attitude of field commanders to chemical warfare, and, in fact, chemical weapons are also affected by air temperature (low temperatures sharply reduce the volatility of OM, and it is completely impossible to use it in the conditions of the Russian winter), and precipitation (rain, snow , fog), which are simply washed away from the air by a pair of OM.

To the greatest extent, meteorological factors affect unstable agents, the action of which lasts for a few minutes or hours. The use of persistent agents (validity from several days to several months and even years) on the battlefield is hardly advisable, because. these OV equally affect both the enemy soldiers and their own, who one way or another will have to move through the same terrain.

The use of any weapon is not the end in itself of the battle. Weapons are just a means of influencing the enemy in order to achieve victory (success). Success in battle is achieved by very precisely coordinated actions of units and formations in place and time (this thesis is not mine, but slightly paraphrased from the SA Combat Regulations), using various most suitable types of weapons and ammunition. At the same time, the goal is not to destroy as many enemy soldiers as possible, but the goal is to force him to act as the opposite side wants (to leave the given area, stop resistance, abandon the war, etc.).

Chemical weapons cannot be used at the time and place that the commander needs to achieve success in battle, i.e. from a combat tool, it turns into an end in itself. it requires the commander to adapt to chemical weapons, and not vice versa (which is required of any weapon). Figuratively speaking, the sword should serve D "Artagnan, and not he should be an attachment to the sword.

Let's briefly look at chemical weapons from other angles.

Actually, this is not a weapon, but only poisonous substances. To use them, all the same air bombs, shells, pouring devices, aerosol generators, checkers, etc. are required, and aircraft, artillery pieces, and soldiers go with them. Those. conventional weapons and ammunition (in chemical equipment). By allocating significant fire resources for the use of HE, the commander is forced to sharply limit fire strikes with conventional projectiles. bombs, missiles, i.e. significantly reduce the normal firepower of their unit. And this despite the fact that the OM will be possible to apply only when favorable weather conditions are created. But these conditions may not appear in the required period of time at all.

The reader may object that weather conditions affect both aviation and artillery and tanks. Yes, they do, but not to the same extent as on OV. The commanders have to postpone the start of the offensive due to bad weather and the inability to use aircraft, but such delays do not exceed several hours, or, well, days. Yes, and it is possible to plan military operations taking into account the time of year, the general meteorological situation that usually develops in a given area. But chemical weapons absolutely depend on weather conditions, and on those that are almost impossible to predict.

And there is no doubt that a lot of firepower is required for the use of OV. After all, it is necessary to throw hundreds and thousands of tons of OM at the enemy in the shortest possible time.

Will the commander agree to reduce his firepower so significantly, for the sake of the problematic opportunity to poison several thousand enemy soldiers. After all, superiors, the government require him to strike at the enemy in a precisely defined place at a precisely appointed time, which chemists cannot guarantee in any way.

This is the first moment.
Second- manufacturing of OV and equipping them with ammunition. Unlike any other military production, the manufacture of warheads and the supply of ammunition is very expensive and even more harmful and dangerous. It is extremely difficult to achieve complete containment of chemical munitions and no safety devices, as is easily possible for any other munitions, can make them sufficiently safe to handle and store. If, say, an ordinary equipped artillery shell is stored, transported without a fuse, then it is no more dangerous than an iron blank, and if it is cracked, rusted, then it is easy to remove it and blow it up at the training ground, i.e. dispose of. With a chemical projectile, all this is impossible. Filled with OM, it is already deadly and will be so until it is disposed of, which is also a very big problem. This means that chemical munitions are no less dangerous for their own than for the enemy, and often, before they even start killing enemy soldiers, they are already killing their own citizens.

Third moment.

Every day, thousands of tons of various materiel are delivered to the front from the rear, from crackers to rockets. All this is immediately consumed and any large stocks of all these cartridges, shells. bombs, missiles, grenades, ... usually does not accumulate in the troops. Chemical munitions, on the other hand, will have to wait for many favorable circumstances for their use. This means that the troops will have to keep vast warehouses of chemical munitions, which are extremely dangerous to handle, transport them endlessly from place to place (modern warfare is characterized by high troop mobility), allocate significant units to protect them, and create special conditions for their safety. Carrying all these thousands of tons of extremely dangerous cargo with a vague prospect of achieving rather limited tactical success with the help of chemical munitions (the use of chemical weapons never gave operational success even in the First World War) is unlikely to please any commander.

Fourth moment.

As I mentioned above, the purpose of using any weapon is not to destroy as many enemy soldiers as possible, but to bring it into such a state. when he cannot resist, i.e. weapons are a means of subordinating the enemy to one's will. And this is often achieved not so much by killing as by destroying, disabling material assets (tanks, aircraft, guns, missiles, etc.) and structures (bridges, roads, enterprises, dwellings, shelters, etc.). When an enemy unit or subunit has lost its tanks, cannons, machine guns, grenades, and it is impossible to deliver all this, then inevitably this unit either retreats or surrenders, which is the goal of the battle. And at the same time, even the only machine gunner who remained alive with a sufficient supply of ammunition is able to hold a significant space for a long time. Poisonous substances are unable to destroy not only a tank, but even a motorcycle. If an ordinary projectile is universal and capable of knocking out a tank, destroying a machine-gun point, destroying a house, killing one or more soldiers, then a chemical one can only do the latter, i.e. chemical munitions are not universal. Hence the simple conclusion - any commander would prefer to have a dozen conventional shells than a hundred chemical ones.
We have to admit that in this respect chemical weapons are not weapons at all.

Fifth moment.

The entire history of the development of means of armed struggle is a technical confrontation between means of attack and means of defense. A shield was born against a sword, knightly armor against a spear, armor against a cannon, a trench against a bullet, and so on. Moreover, in response to more advanced means of defense, more advanced means of attack appeared, in response to which the defense was improved, and this struggle alternately brought success to one or the other side, and not absolute and practically against no means of attack there is a sufficiently reliable defense. Against any, except .... chemical weapons.

Against OV, means of protection were born almost instantly and in a short time became almost absolute. Already in the first chemical attacks, the soldiers immediately found effective means of counteraction. It is known that the defenders often made fires on the parapets of the trenches and clouds of chlorine were simply transferred through the trenches (for nothing that the soldiers did not know either physics or meteorology). Soldiers quickly learned to protect their eyes with car goggles, and their breath with handkerchiefs, on which they previously (sorry for such naturalistic details) simply urinated.

In a matter of weeks, the fronts began to receive, first, the simplest cotton-gauze gas masks, which were accompanied by a bottle with a solution of a degassing agent, and soon rubber gas masks with carbon filters.

Attempts to create gases that penetrate the carbon filter did not lead to anything, because. so-called insulating gas masks instantly appeared in which a person is simply completely turned off from the surrounding atmosphere.

No poisonous substance is able to penetrate rubber, and what is there rubber, an ordinary plastic bag of a suitable size, put on itself, completely excludes contact of the skin-blister agent with the skin.

I will say more, even a fairly strong large sheet of plain paper soaked in any oil is already reliable protection bodies from the OV, and the armies very quickly received both rubber raincoats and overalls.

At the same time, protective equipment for horses appeared, which at that time were a little less at the front than people, and even for dogs.

So, in terms of the possibility of protection against OV, chemical weapons are not a weapon at all, but a horror story for the timid.

Well, someone will say, but a soldier in chemical protection is not a fighter, but half a fighter. Agree. I will say more precisely - a gas mask reduces combat capability by one and a half to two times, a protective raincoat-overalls by four times. But the trick is that the soldiers of both sides will be forced to act in the means of protection. So the chances are evened out again. And even then to say that it is more difficult - to sit in protective equipment in a trench or run across the field.

And now, dear reader, put yourself in the place of a commander of a front or an army, who is being toughly questioned about the success of a battle in a specific place and within a specific timeframe, and ask yourself - do I need this chemical weapon? And I'm not sure if you're going to say yes. There are too many factors against this weapon and very little for it.

But after all, chemical weapons were widely used in the First World War and the results were stunning! - the reader will exclaim - there Kikhtenko gives what figures!

Let's not argue about the numbers, although here, too, not all of the affected OM died. But the results are debatable. And the results are such that not a single chemical attack has brought operational success, and tactical successes have been rather modest. Chemical weapons only added numbers to total number losses of this war, but did not bring and could not bring military success. And for one successful attack, there were dozens, or even more unsuccessful ones. Yes, and there were not so many of them. Actually, Kukhtenko described almost all gas attacks that brought at least some result.

The command of both the German troops and the Allied troops very quickly became disillusioned with the combat qualities of chemical weapons and continued to use them only because they could not find other ways to bring the war out of the positional impasse and frantically clutched at least for something that even illusory promised success.

Here it is worth considering the features of the First World War, which prompted the appearance of chemical weapons.

First of all, this is the fact that by this time the fronts were surrounded by lines of trenches and the troops were immobile for months and years.
Secondly, there were a lot of soldiers in the trenches and the battle formations were extremely dense, because. conventional attacks were repulsed mainly by rifle and machine-gun fire. Those. large masses of people accumulated in very small spaces.
Thirdly, in conditions when there were still no means to break into the enemy’s defenses, it was possible to wait for weeks and months in anticipation of favorable weather conditions. Well, really, it doesn't matter, just sit in the trenches or sit in the trenches, waiting for the right wind.
Fourth, all successful attacks were carried out on an enemy completely unaware of the new type of weapon, completely unprepared and having no means of protection. As long as OV was new, it could be successful. But very quickly the golden age of chemical weapons ended.

Yes, chemical weapons were feared and feared very much. They are afraid today. It is no coincidence that perhaps the first item that is given to a recruit in the army is a gas mask, and perhaps the first thing he is taught is to quickly put on a gas mask. But everyone is afraid, and no one wants to use chemical weapons. All cases of its use during the Second World War and after it are either trial, test, or against civilians who do not have means of protection and do not have knowledge. So after all, all these are one-time cases, after which the chiefs who applied them quickly came to the conclusion that its use was inappropriate.

Obviously, the attitude towards chemical weapons is irrational. It's exactly the same as the cavalry. The first doubts about the need for cavalry were expressed by K. Mal, considering civil war in the USA 1861-65, the First World War actually buried the cavalry as a branch of the army, but the cavalry existed in our army until 1955.