Weapons of Mass Destruction: United States
- Sylvia Rose
- Mar 25
- 5 min read
There are three main types of WMDs: nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. For decades in modern history the United States develops and maintains weapons of mass destruction.
Weapons of mass destruction are defined by their potential to cause widespread harm to people and environment.
Weapons of Mass Destruction: United States
1. Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons are most destructive weapons known to humankind. They derive power from nuclear reactions, either fission (splitting atoms) or fusion (combining atoms), causing an immense release of energy.
Energy manifests as a powerful blast wave, intense heat and radiation capable of instantly vaporizing structures and causing vast area of death and destruction. The US is the first to develop and use nuclear weapons.
Devastating attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 end WWII, at the cost of incredible human suffering still felt today. Since then, the US has maintained a significant nuclear arsenal.
The weapons are deployed primarily through a triad system.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs): Land-based missiles able to reach targets over 6000 km away.
Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs): Missiles launched from submarines, providing a mobile and difficult-to-detect deterrent.
Strategic Bombers: Aircraft capable of carrying nuclear bombs and cruise missiles.
Russia's arsenal includes about 6,000 warheads, with 1,584 currently deployed. Together with the arsenal of the US, this represents over 90 percent of the global nuclear weapons stockpile.
This affects military alliances, for instance the US partnering with Russia against Ukraine under the guise of peace talks. The US wants mineral rights in Ukraine.
The United States has produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads since 1945, more than all other nuclear weapon states combined. Today the US as about 5,500 nuclear warheads.
Of about 1,770 currently deployed, 1,370 are on ballistic missiles and 300 at strategic bomber bases in the United States. An additional 100 tactical bombs are deployed at air bases in Europe.
The remaining warheads are in storage as a so-called “hedge” against technical or geopolitical attacks.
After the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, in 2003 president George Bush attempts to develop a new generation of small nuclear weapons, especially earth penetrators. He's narrowly re-elected in 2004.
The 2004 budget passed by the US Congress eliminates funding for research into the "bunker-busting or earth-penetrating" weapons. Nuclear weapons, worsening trends of violence in the US, and its foreign relations in 2025 rouse new concerns.
2. Chemical Weapons
Chemical weapons use toxic chemicals to cause death, injury, or incapacitation. They're deployed in gas, liquid and aerosol forms by artillery shells, bombs, rockets and spray devices.
Nerve Agents (e.g., Sarin, VX): Affect the nervous system; paralysis, convulsions, and ultimately, death.
Blister Agents (e.g., Mustard Gas): Cause severe blistering and burns to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract.
Blood Agents (e.g., Hydrogen Cyanide): Interfere with the body's ability to use oxygen, leading to asphyxiation.
Choking Agents (e.g., Chlorine Gas): Cause severe irritation and fluid buildup in the lungs, leading to suffocation.
In 1995 15 subway stations in Japan fall under coordinated attack by a domestic terrorist group using Sarin. The onslaught cause mass suffering and multiple deaths.
It's the second such attack by the terrorists, who first strike in 1994, releasing the toxin into a residential neighborhood at night in Matsumoto. 200 people are affected, with several deaths.
Use of chemical weapons is outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997, which the United States ratifies. After years of avoidance, in 2023, under Joe Biden the US announces it has destroyed its declared stockpile of chemical weapons.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has 193 member states. Initially five countries are not members: Israel, Egypt, North Korea, Syria and South Sudan.
During the Syrian civil war over 1,500 civilians die in a chemical attack massacre by the Syrian government, targeting a suburb with known opposition. Later the same year, Syria signs the PCW.
Chemical weapons are used today in the forms of nerve gas, tear gas, and pepper spray. Nerve agent VX, 100 times more toxic than Sarin, has been used in assassinations and is believed to be used in warfare.
One famous assassination happens in 2017. At Kuala Lumpur International Airport, two women throw VX in the face of Kim Jong Nam, the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He dies 15 minutes later on the way to the hospital.
Exposure to VX and other nerve agents has a vast range of symptoms. They range from runny nose, drooling and diarrhea to loss of consciousness, heart attack, coma, convulsions, paralysis, respiratory failure and death.
3. Biological Weapons
Biological weapons use living organisms or their toxic products to cause disease or death. Agents can range from bacteria and viruses to toxins produced by plants or animals.
Biological warfare is nothing new. It's used in the Bronze Age notably by the Hittites, involving tularemia or rabbit fever caused by Francisella tularensis bacteria.
Biological weapons are particularly dangerous due to their potential for rapid spread and difficulty detecting and containing them.
Examples include
Anthrax (B. anthracis): A bacterial disease causing severe respiratory suffering and death.
Clostridium botulinum toxin (Botox): A potent neurotoxin causing paralysis.
Smallpox (variola virus): A highly contagious and deadly viral disease. Eradicated in 1980, it's able to be weaponized.
Because biological weapons spread naturally, prevention and detection is difficult. Use of biological weapons is prohibited under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which the US has ratified.
The United States maintains a strong biodefense program, the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC).
Risks remain. Throughout the world many states and organizations have the technology to use biological agents, for instance to poison water and public spaces.
Drinking water is vulnerable to bioweapons especially if water sanitation is poor. Agents include Yersinia pestis (black plague), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), and viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola.
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