The E96 cluster bomb was an American anti-personnel biological 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...

 developed in 1950.

History

A February 24, 1950 report prepared by William M. Creasy, a colonel in the Army Chemical Corps' Research and Engineering Division, characterized the E96 cluster bomb as in the final stages of development. According to Creasy's report, at the time the U.S. had no other biological weapon systems ready for use in battle.

Specifications

The E96 cluster bomb was a 500 pound biological weapon designed to deliver an anti-personnel or anti-animal biological agent

Biological agent

A biological agent — also called bio-agent or biological threat agent — is a bacterium, virus, prion, or fungus which may cause infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health. They can be used as a biological weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare...

. It consisted of 104 E48 sub-munition

E48 particulate bomb

The E48 particulate bomb was a U.S. biological sub-munition designed during the 1950s for use with the E96 cluster bomb.-History:In February 1950 a U.S. Army report prepared by William Creasy, a colonel within the U.S. bio-weapons program, noted that the E48 particulate bomb was in its final stages...

s, each one weighing four pounds. The sub-munitions were clustered into an E38 cluster adapter and when used, would be dropped from 35,000 feet generating an aerosol cloud in the shape of an ellipse

Ellipse

In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...

.