Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
INTRODUCTION
Laurence Caromba
2016
LECTURER CONTACT DETAILS
Laurence Caromba
2
Important dates
Quiz 1 5% 22 August
Quiz 2 5% 19 September
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WMD DEFINITIONS
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS
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SCIENCE
Quick science what is a nuclear weapon?
Bombs that possess enormous destructive potential derived
from nuclear fission or nuclear fusion reactions.
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EVOLUTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Atomic" (uranium) to thermonuclear" (hydrogen) bombs.
Started with atomic bombs and evolved to Hydrogen
bombs thousands of times more powerful than
atomic bombs.
1930s German scientists solved mystery of uranium
fission concern that Hitlers Germany would create the
first nuclear weapon.
December 1941 Pearl Harbor US Congress poured
money into research on fissile materials Manhattan
project.
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EVOLUTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
1945 first ever nuclear test, Trinity in US state New
Mexico.
Equivalent to explosion of around 20 thousand tons of
TNT Beginning of the Atomic Age.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru2PWmGIoB8
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EVOLUTION (cont.)
Trinity test followed by nuclear attack on Japan.
To force Japan to surrender.
To show Soviet Union what capacity the US arsenal
held.
August 6, 1945 atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
two-thirds destroyed and more than 140 000 people killed
(70,000 immediately).
Three days later atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki,
killing more than 80,000.
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EVOLUTION (cont.)
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pxk4zy_SQw \
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EVOLUTION (cont.)
1949 Soviet Union tests atomic bomb.
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EVOLUTION (cont.)
India (1974),
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Presentation title 15
CHEMICAL (AND TOXIN) WEAPONS
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CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Device that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or
harm to human beings, by virtue of the physiological effects
of these chemicals.
To deny unhindered use of a particular area of terrain for
cover and concealment.
Or against agriculture and livestock to promote hunger and
starvation.
Does not depend on explosive force to achieve objective.
Around for a long time 70 different chemical agents used
or stockpiled during 20th and 21st-centuries.
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CHEMICAL WEAPONS
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CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Lethal agents:
Nerve agents disrupts chemical communications
through the nervous system, e.g. Sarin gas.
Blister agents irritates and causes injury to the
skin; eyes; any other tissue they get in contact with
e.g. mustard gas.
Choking agents Injury to respiratory system,
especially lungs death by asphyxiation.
Blood agents metabolic poisons interfere with
life-sustaining processes of blood e.g. cyanide &
arsine.
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TOXIN WEAPONS
Illness-inducing chemicals formed from living organisms.
E.g. bacteria, fungi, plants and animals.
Can be disabling to acutely toxic.
Most deadly: botulinum toxin, which is a bacterial toxin.
Much more potent than chemical weapons.
Require less material to produce equivalent casualties.
But: not self-reproducing more material required
than for biological weapon.
Symptoms occur over the course of several hours.
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BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
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BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Bioweapons pathogens that cause disease and illness in
infected humans.
1,500 BC Hittites recognized power of contagions
sent plague victims into enemy lands.
Other armies catapulted diseased corpses into besieged
fortresses or poisoned enemy wells.
Advances in medical science vastly improved
understanding of harmful pathogens Vaccinations and
cures BUT also further weaponization.
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BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Category A highest priority Easily spread or
transmitted Anthrax, Plague, Smallpox, Tularemia, and
viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.
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DELIVERY SYSTEMS
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DELIVERY SYSTEMS
To do their deadly work, WMD agents have to be integrated
into a weapon.
No need to be sophisticated nuclear device planted by
sub-state group, or commando squad, or delivered by a
disguised cargo ship, or civil aircraft, or a small pleasure
boat, or in a suitcase, can kill just as many people as one
delivered by intercontinental ballistic missile.
A given quantity of certain lethal microorganisms would
probably kill even more people if spread effectively by
human agents than if by a missile.
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DELIVERY SYSTEMS
States able to couple weapons of mass destruction to
delivery systems with longer range or greater ability to
penetrate defenses can threaten more nations with higher
levels of destruction, and with greater likelihood of success.
E.g. Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and combat
aircraft.
Ballistic missiles difficult to defend against and appear to
be particularly suited for WMD
Generally do not have much military value in
proportion to their cost when armed with nuclear
warheads, BUT can have considerable political
significance.
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DELIVERY SYSTEMS
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DELIVERY SYSTEMS
Combat aircraft potent threat.
Much more widely available than missiles;
Unit guide
Schedule
Assessment
Readings
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