HueyPilot
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 207
The insurgents attempted to rig an old Iraqi artillery round to explode on the side of a road. The round just happened to be an early version of a nerve agent dispersion round. These older rounds keep the chemicals to make Sarin seperate (to facilitate safer handling), and when it explodes in an air burst, the chemicals mix and form Sarin. The folks who set the shell off either A) didn't realize it was a chemical warhead or B) didn't understand how it worked and didn't get it to go off properly.
The improvised nature of the explosion wasn't sufficient to mix the chemicals, resulting in very little Sarin being released, and a few troops were treated for minor nerve agent exposure.
Interestingly, this shell is identical to the type used by the Iraqi Army, and stocks of which were declared completely destroyed. The Iraqi Survey Group (chem/bio team) are trying to figure out where the shell came from.
The improvised nature of the explosion wasn't sufficient to mix the chemicals, resulting in very little Sarin being released, and a few troops were treated for minor nerve agent exposure.
Interestingly, this shell is identical to the type used by the Iraqi Army, and stocks of which were declared completely destroyed. The Iraqi Survey Group (chem/bio team) are trying to figure out where the shell came from.
