If the United States takes part in a military strike on Syria, the Air Force will likely be using bombs designed specifically for the destruction of chemical and biological weapons.
If successful, these weapons would “vaporize” stockpiles of deadly agents and stop any particles from being inadvertently released into the air.
Military.com reports that the U.S. Air Force has spent years developing “Agent Defeat Weapons,” which are designed to target and destroy stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons.
An Air Force spokeswoman told the defense website that the munitions are named “PAW,” or Passive Attack Weapon, and “CrashPad” (Prompt Agent Defeat), both of which would be delivered by F-15 or F-22 fighter jets and B-2 or B-1 bombers.
The CrashPad is a high-heat explosive bomb designed to incinerate chemical agents before they can be harmful, according to Defense Department officials documents.
“When you hit something at high velocity, what you get is a flash of incredible heat in a confined area extremely fast. That can vaporize everything in small area,” Daniel Goure, vice president of Virginia-based think tank Lexington Institute, told the website.
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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