MILITARY THOUGHT (USSR): BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND SOME PROBLEMS OF ANTIBIOLOGICAL DEFENSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10-00105R000201850001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 30, 1976
• Content Type: MEMO

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Intelligence Information Special Report
Page 3 of 13 P250X1-HUM
COUNTRY USSR
DATE 30 April
500X11-HUM
MILITARY THOUGHT (USSR)
Biological Weapons and Some Problems of
Antibiological Defense _5OX1-HUM
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Biological Weapons and Some Problems of Antibiological Defense
by
Colonel of Medical Service A. Vorobyev
Colonel of Medical Service A. Maslov
As is well known, despite the existing international agreements,
research in the field of mass production of biological weapons continues to
expand in the United States.
An analysis of materials published abroad indicates that the greatest
attention at present is being given to the study of the pathogens causing
such serious diseases as plague, tularemia, Siberian ulcer, smallpox,
yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, Q-fever, tsutsugamushi fever, typhus,
botulism, and various fungous diseases. In addition, combined means of
destruction are being tested which incorporate not one but several
pathogenic microorganisms, since it is assumed that they may produce a
stronger destructive effect and may create additional difficulties in
determining the type of microorganisms used and in treating casualties.
In the opinion of the NATO leaders, biological weapons may be employed
against enemy troops and against targets (areas) in the enemy's deep rear
in order to wear down troops, wipe out reserves, disorganize the work of
the interior of the country, and disrupt the control of industry,
transportation, etc.
The principal method of employing biological warfare means is
atomization in the air, that is, the creation of a biological aerosol
(biological cloud). People and animals are infected through inhalation of
aerosol particles containing disease pathogens. Data from field tests of
biological weapons indicate their great effectiveness in the areas
selected. Thus, the US Civil Defense Institute conducted a comparison of
the capabilities for inflicting casualties on personnel from one aircraft
carrying a nuclear warhead with a yield of 20 megatons, toxic agents, and
bacterial means to be atomized in the air. Calculations have shown that5OX1-HUM
the destruction rate achieved in the first and second variants was,
respectively, approximately 98 percent and 30 percent of the unprotected
personnel in an area of up to 260 square kilometers. If biological weapons
are employed, possible enemy losses could reach from 25 to 75 percent over
an area of 85 thousand square kilometers. According to an estimate made by
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the chief of the directorate of chemical, biological, and radiological
weapons of the staff of the US Army, General Stubbs, the method of
atomizing biological means of destruction from the air is a very promising
way of attacking a country which has a large army and substantial
territory.
American military specialists are allotting considerable attention to
organizing sabotage operations employing pathogens. In their opinion, such
a method may also be effective, since it will be difficult for the enemy to
detect biological warfare means, and it does not take a great amount of
material to infect a target.
Thus, in organizing antibacteriological defense, we must proceed from
the assumption that extensive areas may be subjected to biological warfare
attack. Little known or completely unknown pathogens of infectious
diseases can be used to infect people and animals. The most probable
method of employing biological means will be to atomize them in the air.
It follows from this that people and animals can be reliably protected from
aerogenic infection, in an area in which biological weapons are employed,
only if there is timely detection of the pathogenic microbes in the air.
This can be done only by using automatic means of biological
racoanaissance. Therefore, the timely development and putting into
operation of these means in the armed forces and in the country as a whole
must clearly be regarded as top priority tasks in providing for defense
against biological attack.
As experience shows, the production of such means involves certain
difficulties, since the casualty-producing doses of pathogenic microbes
(which must be detected in the air) are very small, and the microbe cell
comprises a large number of components. In developing automatic means of
biological reconnaissance, the capitalist countries follow the principle of
comparing a constant number of particles suspended in air with changes
caused by the presence of an artificial aerosol, and they also recommend
determining the quantitative proportion of various particle fractions or of
the content of albumin per unit volume of surface air.
In order to measure the quantity of particles suspended in air, the US
has designed an instrument called an "Aerosoloscope" and tested it under
field conditions. This instrument operates by introducing the air to be
tested into a special chamber which is illuminated by a narrow, directed5oxl-HUM
beam of light. The aerosol particles, upon intersecting the light beam,
scatter the light. The rays reflected off the particles are absorbed by a
photoelectric cell and converted to electric impulses, which are recorded
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by a counting mechanism. The instrument produces a count of aerosol
particles ranging in size from a few tenths of a micron to 64 microns.
Some scientists consider, however, that a more reliable indicator of
biological warfare attack consists of data concerning the variation of the
quantitative proportion of particles suspended in the air, relative to the
dimensions of different particle fractions. Thus it has been established
that under natural conditions, the quantitative proportion of particles
with dimensions of 0.5 to 0.6 micron and 1.0 to 1.5 microns will remain
virtually constant at all times, except when the atmosphere is contaminated
with dust at times of very strong wind. It is presumed that this balance
will be sharply disrupted if biological weapons are employed. An
instrument called a "Particle Proportion Analyzer" has been designed on
this principle.
For determining the amount of albumin in the air, instruments are
proposed which will operate on the principle of infrared spectrophotometry
or the measurement of the products of the breakdown of albumin under the
effect of temperature or chemical substances. In order to make a correct
evaluation of the data obtained regarding the content of aerosol particles
or albumin in the air, in determining the nature of a biological warfare
attack, it is necessary to have information on the content of these
substances in the atmosphere under conditions of nature, that is, to know
the natural background. For these purposes, advance research will be
conducted to determine the quantity of albumin in the air in different
areas, and studies will be made of the dependence of this factor on
geographical, weather, seasonal, and other conditions.
Another method which is of no small importance in detecting biological
attack is to visually observe and identify the typical signs of the
employment of biological weapons. These signs usually include the
dropping, from enemy aircraft, of ammunition appropriate to biological
weapons and the detection of substances resembling biological preparations
on the ground, in water, or on combat equipment. It must be kept in mind,
however, that data obtained through observations not using automatic
biological reconnaissance equipment cannot be sufficiently efficacious and
complete, that is, cannot provide for taking defensive measures in time.
But they can serve as the first warning of an enemy biological warfare
attack. Reports concerning the detection of signs that bacteriological -
weapons have been used, and reports of cases of infectious diseases amc5oX1-HUM
people, animals, and plants, must be reported immediately to special
facilities (centers) capable of analyzing and evaluating them to determine
the nature and scale of the biological warfare attack.
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This is the current situation in our army: upon receipt of the first
reports concerning enemy employment of bacterial means, units and large
units which have been subjected to the effects of these means will, by
order of the commanding officer, set up observation, which provides for
carrying out a series of quarantine-restriction and treatment-prophylactic
measures directed toward forestalling the outbreak and spread of infectious
diseases.
Upon establishing the fact that an enemy has used pathogens of highly
contagious infections (plague, cholera, etc.), a quarantine will be
established by instructions of the commander of the army (front), providing
for the implementation of a system of antiepidemic and routinme measures
directed toward the complete isolation of the center of infection and the
elimination of infectious diseases. The procedure for subsequent
employment of quarantined troops is determined depending on the situation.
In many cases the affected units may be withdrawn from battle for the
entire term of the quarantine.
Determining the limits of a center which has been affected, and thus
identifying the affected units and large units, is an extremely difficult
task. This is due first of all to the already noted complexity of
determining casualty-producing concentrations of bacterial means both in
the air and on objects in the environment after aerosols containing
pathogens of infectious diseases have settled on them. Thus, for example,
research shows that about 50 microorganisms are required to infect a human
being with tularemia through the respiratory tract, and 10 microorganisms
to infect through the skin. It is virtually impossible to determine such
quantities of microbes by methods of non-specific analysis. Therefore the
limits of a center will very often be established on the basis of data
which are not directly pertinent, through calculations according to the
laws of dispersion of a bacterial aerosol cloud.
The elimination of the aftereffects from the employment of biological
weapons requires, along with confirmation that a biological attack has
occurred, precise data on the types of disease pathogens used by the enemy.
With the methods usually used in public health practice to identify
microorganisms by tasting contaminated material, it takes several days to
obtain a definitive answer as to types of microorganisms used. This is a
very long time period. It is therefore necessary to work out new methods
for accelerated identification of microorganisms. The most progressive, in
our view, are the methods for recognizing viruses by culturing them on 50X1-HUM
tissue cells, the identification of microorganisms with the aid of the
electron microscope, the application of fluorescent antibodies, and others.
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The last-named method is the most developed and has received wide
recognition. However, in order to make it standard in the army and in
civil defense establishments, it is necessary to make it specifically
applicable to the identification of each of the pathogens which may be used
in biological warfare, to initiate the mass production of fluorescent
immune serums and equipment suitable for use under field conditions, and to
instruct the personnel of field laboratories in the application of this
method.
A very widespread method of specific indication of bacteriological
weapons is to use the reaction of passive hemagglutination. This is one of
the most sensitive and specific reactions, making it possible to determine
1,000 to 10,000 microbe cells in one milliliter of the chosen sample. The
technique of producing the reaction is very simple and does not require
complicated equipment. This method of research can be used successfully
under field conditions. Laboratories of medical-antiepidemic platoons of
medical battalions of divisions, and mobile laboratories of separate
medical-antiepidemic detachments of armies and fronts, will examine samples
from objects in the environment for pathogens of plague, cholera, and
Siberian ulcer and for botulotoxins, following an abbreviated plan. The
base laboratories of separate medical-antiepidemic detachments in the army
and the front will carry on full-scale bacteriological, virological, and
rickettsiological research.
In order to forestall the outbreak and spreading of infectious
diseases in the center of infection, it appears advisable and completely
justified to issue antibiotics immediately after establishing the fact of
enemy use of bacterial means. In this case, we should use preparations
with a wide range of effects, consisting of a combination of several
antibiotics. After determining the type of pathogen, it is advisable to
carry out specifically directed preventive treatment using, in addition to
antibiotics, other specific treatment means (gamma globulins, vaccines,
sulfanilamides, bacteriophages, etc.).
The most important direction for defense against biological weapons is
to immunize personnel and thus increase their resistance to infectious
diseases. The leading role of specific prophylaxis in the system of
antibacteriological defense is emphasized by many researchers and
specialists.
However, despite the high evaluation of this method as the ideal means
of defense against bacteriological weapons, from the practical standpoint
the conduct of immunological countermeasures encounters serious
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difficulties: the specific nature of the immunity imparted by vaccines,
which is directed only against certain agents; and the difficulty of
vaccinating hundreds of thousands, or possibly even tens of millions, of
people against all of the anticipated agents of bacteriological warfare.
These difficulties significantly lower the potential capabilities for
prophylactic vaccination.
We cannot fail to mention also that conducting mass vaccination in the
troops also has its particular difficulties. It is well known that combat
actions in a modern war will be characterized by high mobility, maximum
dispersal of troops both along the front and in depth, and the short amount
of time which can be allotted for the concentration and reorganization of
units and large units. Under these conditions, commanders of units and
large units will be able to allot only minimal time for vaccination.
At the present time, methods of mass vaccination are being worked out
and tested, including aerosol and peroral methods and the administration of
vaccines with needleless injectors. The accumulated experience and data
indicate that immunization by these methods will require a much smaller
expenditure of forces, means, and time. In addition, aerosol immunization
can be conducted in virtually any type of accommodations or in tents by
atomizing dry or liquid (rehydrated) vaccines. An immunization session
using dry (powdered) vaccines takes 15 minutes, and a session with liquid
vaccines -- five to ten minutes. The number and location of sites for
aerosol vaccination will be determined by the disposition of units and
large units and by the amount of time allotted for inoculating. In a
division, for example, it is advisable to set up the aerosol vaccination
sites in regiments and certain separate units. For motorized rifle, tank,
and artillery regiments,'it appears that one site of 80 to 100 square
meters, or two sites of 40 to 50 square meters each, will be adequate.
The technique of aerosol vaccination is in itself fairly simple, and,
as experience shows, no special medical knowledge is required to conduct
inhalation inoculations. However, this activity, like the large-scale
introduction of any biological preparations into the body, requires medical
supervision. When carrying out mass aerosol immunization of personnel, it
is necessary to obtain methodological guidance from specialists from
medical-antibacteriological platoons of medical battalions of divisions and
from antiepidemic detachments of armies (fronts). The table shows a rough
calculation of the time and forces needed to-carry out prophylacti5oxl-HUM
vaccination in a motorized rifle division by various methods.
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The method of administering vaccines by needleless injector and the
enteric method require about as much labor as the aerosol method, but the
effectiveness of the former for many vaccines must be verified, and the
latter (as regards aerogenic infection) requires additional calculations
and checking. In our view, research in this direction must continue, since
the antiepidemic service must be provided with different methods of
vaccination, to be applied depending on the conditions of troop activity.
For example, if troops are viry widcly dispersed, so that immunization can
be conducted only subunit by subunit, the enteric method proves much more
effective than the aerosol method. In many cases, obviously, it will be
logical to employ different methods of inoculation at the same time:
aerosol for vaccinating large groups of people; and enteric for treating
individuals or small groups not immunized by the aerosol method.
In taking these measures in the troops, we must each time take into
consideration the reaction-producing qualities of the vaccines, because
this is closely linked with maintaining the combat effectiveness of the
personnel of units and large units. It is well known that most vaccine
preparations are capable of evoking temperature and other clinical
reactions, adversely affecting the health of military personnel and
sometimes leading to the loss of combat effectiveness of entire subunits.
Special care must therefore be taken in organizing and monitoring the
immunization of personnel in the troops which are at the highest level of
readiness (rocket forces, aviation, the navy, etc.).
In organizing the treatment of casualties from biological weapons, we
must consider first of all the extent of casualties inflicted, the number
requiring medical aid, and how widely they are dispersed. If the center of
infection is small and the number of casualties inconsiderable, the
sequence and volume of medical aid activities will to a great extent
parallel the measures taken to eliminate outbreaks of infectious diseases
under peacetime conditions. If troops and populace are affected over vast
areas, it will be difficult in many instances to consider evacuating
casualties from the center of infection and hospitalizing all of them.
Obviously, in providing aid, local resources will be utilized extensively
and all persons fit for work will be enlisted to look after the sick.
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Treatment must be based mainly on the use of broad spectrum
antibiotics. It is very important to begin treatment in time and to choose
the correct medicinal preparation. At the present time, methods have been
worked out for choosing an effective medicinal preparation for treating
diseases which have not yet been precisely diagnosed. The essence of these
methods, which are applied in different modifications, is that the material
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serving as the source of infection, or the clinical samples taken from an
infected person, are planted in culture mediums containing different
medicinal substances. The preparation which more than others inhibits the
growth of pathogens, is regarded as the most acceptable for treating
casualties. The indicated methods of choosing an effective medicine or
preparation can be very useful for early treatment of casualties before one
has succeeded in identifying the pathogens used by an enemy.
In connection with the possibility of disseminating biological warfare
means over large areas there arises the problem of decontaminating affected
targets. Chemical and engineer troops and rear services subunits are
responsible for carrying out the main biological warfare decontamination
measures in the troops. Chemical subunits and units will set up stations
for the decontamination treatment of personnel and decontamination of
clothing, equipment, weapons, combat equipment, and transport, and will
also decontaminate the terrain. Engineer subunits will procure and purify
water. The rations supply service of the rear will be responsible for the
decontamination of food products. The medical service will monitor the
quality and completeness of decontamination activities and will conduct
medical treatment of the wounded and the sick in the stages of medical
evacuation.
A great many chlorine-containing substances are used as biological
warfare decontamination means in the armed forces, being employed also for
chemical warfare decontamination of targets. An innovation in this field
is the wide introduction into practice of gaseous biological warfare
decontamination means -- ethylene oxide and its compound, methyl bromide,
and beta-propiolactone. The use of gaseous decontaminants makes it
possible to accelerate activities for the decontamination of targets
(weapons, combat equipment, transport means, accommodations). In
application to the conditions of civil defense, it is recommended that
along with the indicated means we adopt the simplest decontamination
methods, based on the use of physical methods of microbe decontamination
(boiling, airing in sunlight) and improvised means of decontamination.
In view of the possibility that infected insects may be used in a
biological warfare attack, the armed forces and the civil defense system
must provide for appropriate measures and means to combat carriers of
infectious disea::es. And to do this we must, first of all, develop and
adopt new insecticides effective against insects with a heightened
resistance to preparations which have been widely distributed and in use
for a long time. 50X1-HUM
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The success of measures for defense against biological weapons at the
beginning of combat actions will depend largely on the establishment during
peacetime of the necessary mobilization reserves of medical means, on the
quality of training received by armed forces personnel and the populace of
the country in methods of defense against biological weapons, and on the
working out of a series of theoretical problems connected with prophylaxis
and with the treatment of casualties.
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Method of
Sites (tents) for
vaccination
Number of vaccinators
Time spent
vaccinating a
vaccination
motorized rifl
Dimensions,
Number
Doctors or
Medical
division,
square
medical
instructors
hours
meters
assistants
Hypodermic
--
19
19
38
20-24
Aerosol (dry)*
80
6
6
6
2-3
40
12
12
12
2-3
22
24
12
24
2-2
5
(Standard
.
Medical -
Technical
Tent-41)
Aerosol
(liquid)*
80
6
6
6
1.2-2
40
12
12
12
1.2-2
22
24
12
24
1-1.5
(Tent-41)
eedleless
njection
--
12
12
12
2-3
{
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* The calculations take into account preparatory measures1lasting seven to ten
minutes before each vaccination session. With this exception, these data are
valid only for uninterrupted (undelayed) arrival of personnel at inoculating points.
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Expenditure of Time and Forces for Prophylactic Inoculation in
a Motorized Rifle Division, Using Different Methods of Applying
Preparations 5OX1-HUM
~Na
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