The M44 generator cluster was an American chemical cluster bomb

Cluster bomb

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...

 designed to deliver the incapacitating agent BZ. It was first mass-produced in 1962 and all stocks of the weapons were destroyed by 1989.

History

The United States Army Chemical Corps renewed their chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

 (CW) program's focus in the early 1960s. This refocusing led to the pursuit of weapons utilizing agent BZ. In March 1962 the U.S. Army first began mass-production of the M44 generator cluster, along with the M43 BZ cluster bomb

M43 BZ cluster bomb

The M43 BZ cluster bomb, or simply M43 cluster bomb, was a U.S. chemical cluster bomb intended to deliver the incapacitating agent known as BZ. The weapon was produced in the early 1960s and all stocks of U.S. BZ were destroyed by 1989.-History:...

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Despite reaching mass-production ("standardization" in military jargon) levels, the M44 and the M43 were never truly integrated into the main U.S. chemical arsenal. In total, around 1,500 of the M44s and M43s were produced. All U.S. BZ munitions and agent stockpiles were stored at Pine Bluff Arsenal

Pine Bluff Arsenal

The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a US Army installation located in Jefferson County, Arkansas, just northwest of the city of Pine Bluff. PBA is one of the six Army installations in the United States that store chemical weapons...

. The entire U.S. BZ stockpile, including the M44s, were demilitarized and destroyed between 1988 and 1989.

Specifications

The M44 had a diameter of 15 inches (381 mm) and a length of 60 inches (1.5 m). Weighing 175 pounds the M44 generator cluster was a cluster bomb

Cluster bomb

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...

 which was designed to deliver the chemical incapacitating agent

Incapacitating agent

The term incapacitating agent is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense asLethal agents are primarily intended to kill, but incapacitating agents can also kill if administered in a potent enough dose, or in certain scenarios....

 BZ; to that end the weapon held approximately 39 pounds of BZ.

The weapon's sub-munitions are a combination of various components. Three M16 BZ smoke generators were held together in an M39 cluster adapter and its M92 wire assembly; the M39 essentially bound and buckled the generators together. Each generator also held its own parachute, complete with harnesses and its own container. Also within the generator was its "generator pail" which contained the M6 canisters, the part of the sub-munition that held the BZ. Each of the M44s three generator pails held 42 M6 canisters, a total of 126. The canisters were arranged in a 14 three-canister tiers and each one held about 5 ounces of agent BZ.

Issues

The M44s relatively small production numbers were due, like all U.S. BZ munitions, to a number of shortcomings. The M44 dispensed its agent in a cloud of white, particulate smoke. This was especially problematic because the white smoke was easily visible and BZ exposure was simple to prevent; a few layers of cloth over the mouth and nose are sufficient. There were a number of other factors that made BZ weapons unattractive to military planners. BZ had a delayed and variable rate-of-action, as well as a less than ideal "envelope-of-action". In addition, BZ casualties exhibited bizarre behavior, 50 to 80 percent had to be restrained to prevent self-injury during recovery. Others exhibited distinct symptoms of paranoia

Paranoia

Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...

 and mania

Mania

Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...

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