WMDs Lesson Aim To learn about the varieties of Modern Armaments

WMDs

Lesson Aim• To learn about the varieties of Modern

Armaments

What Variety of Modern Armaments Exist?

• Smart Missiles• Chemical weapons• Biological Weapons• Nuclear Weapons



Smart Missiles

• A Smart Missile is a guided weapons intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimize damage to things other than the target.

• The Smart Missile, after its launch, can be guided remotely towards its target

What are the benefits of using Smart Missiles???

Smart Missiles: Benefits

• The accuracy of a Smart Missile can help to minimize civilian casualties and hit the military targets


• Smart Missiles allow a smaller numbers of planes to make successful attacks on stationary targets such as buildings, military stations, or bridges.

• The pilot can launch the missile from a safe distance

• It can be a lot faster than organising soldiers into a war zone


• Simply possessing these weapons may make your enemy less likely to strike

What are the dangers of using Smart Missiles?

Smart Missiles: The Dangers

• Nothing is ever 100%. Smart Missiles have been known to miss targets and kill innocent civilians. Humans are behind the remotes.


• How do you store such weapons? What happens if you have a malfunction?


• These weapons are very expensive and are a huge drain on a nations resources. Estimates indicate the each Smart Missile costs $300,000 (about £200,000)


• By turning war into a video game it makes it feel unreal to one side. This may make it easier to use such weapons.



Chemical Weapons

• Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons to kill, injure, or incapacitate an enemy.

• This type of warfare is distinct from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not due to their explosive force.

What Effects Do Chemical Weapons Have?

Chemical weapons can be grouped into the following categories: -

• Choking Agents: causing the lungs to fill with fluid• Blood Agents: preventing cells from absorbing oxygen• Nerve Agents: Interferes with the nerve functions• Blister Agents: Causes harm to the lining of the lungs


• Chemical weapons were used during WW1 but not WW2.

• Mustard gas harms the lining of the lungs and burns the skin


• Saddam Hussein also used mustard gas against the Kurds in Northern Iraq in the late 1980s

• Thousands were killed as they were a threat to his rule over Iraq

Agent Orange Vietnam

Chemical Weapons: The Benefits

• They are highly effective• No buildings are destroyed• They can be delivered from safe distances in

cheap missiles• They can disable troops instead of killing them• They can be introduced in a variety of ways

(water supply, air conditioning system etc)• After 2-3 days the contamination dissipates

• What are the dangers of chemical weapons?

Chemical Weapons: The Dangers

• They might be released accidentally• They are very easy to create and can fall into

the wrong hands• Unknown side affects• As soon as you use them, your enemy will

have ‘permission’ to use them back on you• It is an inhumane way to kill (you can spend 30

agonizing minutes as the gas chokes you to death)

• Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction by the United Nations, and their production and stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.



Biological Weapons

• Biological warfare is also known as germ warfare

• It is similar to chemical warfare in many respects

Biological Warfare: A New Thing?

• It is said that during the Bubonic plague, in the old days, people would catapult rotting corpses into their enemies castles to cause disease to spread.

Anthrax

In the Post

The Effects

• Respiratory infection in humans initially presents with cold or flu like symptoms for several days, followed by severe (and often fatal) respiratory collapse.

Biological Warfare: The Benefits

• Easy to introduce• Cheap and easy to make• Very effective• Can be used on animals and crops as well• May be an effective deterrent

Biological Warfare: The Benefits

• Your own people may get infected accidentally

• Living viruses and germs can mutate out of control – you may wipe out the human population of earth

• The enemy may respond violently if they have been fatally infected

• It breaks the Geneva Convention• A zone may never be safe to enter after germs

are released

• Biological weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction by the United Nations, and their production and stockpiling was outlawed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention



We will cover nuclear weapons tomorrow

• Read p250-255• Answer the Qs on p256

Documents

WMDs Lesson Aim To learn about the varieties of Modern Armaments