IP: Re: (Brain of Stig)The Bioweaponeers [Marc Ringuette]

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

I bisited  the CDISS site and it is well worth browsing yourself. Dave




From: Marc Ringuette <ringuett () ricochet net>
To: Stig HackVn <stig () hackvan com>
]


For a more detached view of bioweapons, see the following:


          http://www.cdiss.org/bw.htm


CDISS is a British institute with a kick-ass and informative web
site regarding weapons of mass destruction.  Well worth an
hour or two.


> From the above page regarding biological weapons:


Some scare words:


           ... odourless, tasteless, invisible to the human eye...


           ... Weight-for-weight, biological weapons are
           hundreds to thousands of times more potent
           than the most lethal chemical weapon ...


           ... can be produced from widely available pathogens...


           ... intimidatory nature ... wholesale disruption or
           paralysis of civil and economic activity...


Reassuringly,


          "The high stresses, gravitational forces
           (G-forces) and heat generated by the
           acceleration and re-entry of ballistic missiles
           makes them a less-than-ideal method of
           delivering live biological agents. "


But


          "Mounting biological dispersal systems onto
           cruise missiles may overcome the
           disadvantages associated with aircraft and
           ballistic missile delivery systems. An aerosol
           dispersal system mounted on a Unmanned
           Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or cruise missile,
           creating, in effect, a remotely piloted crop
           duster, would be an effective way of deploying
           BW agents over a determined target area."


LIMITATIONS:


           "Unlike chemical weapons, biological agents
           are not as controllable or predictable in their
           effects and are even more dependent than
           chemical agents upon temperature, weather
           and topographical conditions."


           "However, most biological agents must
           be inhaled or ingested to be effective: unlike
           many chemical agents, skin contact is unlikely
           to cause infection, making it easier to defend
           against biological agents than chemical agents
           if the agent can be correctly detected."


          "Most biological agents also degrade rapidly"


          "The weaponisation
           (storage and delivery) of biological agents
           also poses technical hurdles. "






My conclusion:  biological weapons are scary, flaky, and touchy.  They
wouldn't be my weapon of choice if I were a bad guy.  If I were a major
government, I'd use conventional warheads on short-range ballistic
missiles, which are much more reliable and fairly economical.  If I were a
low-budget rogue, I'd build  a batch of fuel-air bombs and either drop them
out of an airplane or put them in some trucks.  But that's just me.


- --Marc




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