binary weapon

In chemical warfare, weapon consisting of two substances that in isolation are harmless but when mixed together form a poisonous nerve gas. They are loaded into the delivery system separately and combine after launch.

With conventional chemical weapons, chemical stockpiles deteriorate, unstable compounds break down, and the handling and security of such deadly compounds present serious problems to any country possessing them. The development of binary chemical weapons in the USA served to minimize these risks, since the principle on which they are based is the combination of two individually harmless compounds into a deadly chemical agent only in the shell or bomb they are housed in, and then only when the projectile is armed or fired. This greatly reduces storage and handling problems.