M55 (rocket)

Artillery and mortars are for small area targets; and due to different spin stabilities, warheads intended for explosives are not ideal for chemical delivery.

Produced from 1959 to 1965,[1] the M55s were manufactured at Newport Army Ammunition Plant and tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

[2] The Army produced unitary warheads filled with Sarin (GB) and VX nerve agents for the M55.

[7] The U.S. National Research Council and other sources called the M55 the most dangerous weapon in the American chemical arsenal because of this and other hazards.

The U.S. missed the deadline, but completed the destruction of all declared chemical weapons on July 7, 2023, at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.

The agent, as stated, comprises about ten pounds (4.5 kilograms) of the weight with the rest lying in the casing and M417 fuze.

An M55 rocket being disassembled at Umatilla Chemical Depot
An M55 rocket containing Sarin being destroyed at Johnston Atoll in 1990