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IP: Re: (Brain of Stig)The Bioweaponeers [Marc Ringuette]
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 18:28:25 -0500
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 ------- end -------
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