Rare declassified Cold War Ministry of Defence film: Aircraft spraying Bacterial suspension

The following rare declassified UK Ministry of Defence film shows a Canberra aircraft spraying a bacterial suspension as it flies over the Porton Range on Salisbury Plain in late 1959.

The spray aircraft, CAanberra WH657, was owned and operated by the UK National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE). In 1957, the UK’s Biological Warfare facility, then known as the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE), Porton Down, collaborated with the NGTE in developing a device from which an aircraft could spray very large quantities of Biological Warfare (BW) agent over a 200 + mile crosswind track.

At the time, MRE Porton Down were pioneering the development of their Large Area Coverage (LAC) concept of BW attack. Contrary to a popular misconception, the UK Government had not abandoned developing a so-called ‘offensive’ BW capability in 1956 – in fact Porton Down scientists felt that their LAC method of BW attack might be of use as a strategic weapon against the Soviet Union. The LAC concept proposed that a single sortie by an aircraft, ship, submarine or guided missile could spray an off-target aerosol of BW agent which could contaminate an area greater than 10,000 square miles.

But in order to do this an aircraft spray system needed to be developed which was capable of spraying massive amounts of particles, each of a size which was capable of evading the body’s defences and penetrating the deepest part of the lungs, the alveoli.

By 1959, the National Gas Turbine Establishment at Pyestock, Fleet, had prepared their Canberra aircraft (WH657) with a number of different types of spray systems – the next step was to test them in a series of field trials by spraying a bacterial suspension over a number of test sites.

This film shows the NGTE Canberra spraying a bacterial suspension over the Porton Range on Salisbury Plain during November 1959. The height of the aircraft during these trials was 1,000 ft asl, which was judged by Porton Down to be an ideal height from which to conduct an aircraft delivered Biological Warfare attack.

As you might already have guessed, I’ve posted this film in order for people to realise that if, for whatever reason, a Government did propose to spray their population with an aerosol, it would do so not from a height similar to that produced by the alleged ‘chemtrails’, but from a much lower height which was between 400-2,000 ft asl.






zero lift

Hi Zerolift,

Glad you are still on this subject , well done for posting this new video.

hope you are well, and good to still see you are on ATS even though it isnt what it used to be.


snoopyuk

Hi Snoop, good to see you're still on ATS.

As you can see, I'm still busy trying to get Porton to declassify some things which they'd nowadays rather pretend never happened

Love your avatar - funnily enough I'm in the process of getting the Home Office to declassify the notorious Home Defence exercise - HARD ROCK - the one which was meant to happen a few years before WINTEX 85 but was 'cancelled for political reasons'

Watch this space



zero lift

reply to post by zero lift


Oooohh ! ! !.....please keep me informed with that, it is hard for me to do so much now I am in Portugal.
However while I was back this summer , I managed to get a quick trip down into the newly declassified bunker at Daws Hill, It was amazing...totally preserved and in good condition...but not for long sadly ( despite many protests it is going to be demolished , I have photos if you wish to see them.)


I am meeting Peter Hennessey when I go back for Xmas , as we have corresponded over a few things for his new book. So let me know if I can help in any way, ie. ask him any questions related to your research.

take care

snoopyuk

Cool - well done for geting this.

for those who have not seen it there is also video footage of a Valetta being used for the same purpose -

- might as well have both movies on the same page.

there are other documents relating to his testing available on the 'net:

British risk assessment for ingesting ZCdS done in 1997

Collection of documents relating to Porton Down testing - also alleges public testing carried on until 1975, and that biological warfare testing was done in royal Mailrooms in response to the anthrax scares of 2001 that included the release of live bacillus subtilis

Don't worry Snoop, when I receive the HARD ROCK file I'll keep you up to speed. Interested to hear that you're meeting up with Peter - does his new book deal with the 1960's, or is it another Home Defence book similar to 'The Secret State'?

I've also been in contact with him over the years whenever I get my mitts on something exotic. I sent him the original declassified docs concerning Macmillan's Nuclear Deputies and the Shakesperian nicknames Mac gave them (Gravedigger 1 and Gravedigger2). I also sent him some of my PYTHON concept docs. I've since gathered quite a bit more material - proposals for PYTHON leaders to use dispersed Bank of England gold to pay for the post- nuclear strike resupply of the UK, Operation CANDID (Protection of the Royal Family in an Emergency), and the initial dispersal locations for the UKSA and NATA components of the PYTHON concept. Very interesting stuff

Thanks Aloysius, I thought it time to show what a real aircraft delivered BW attack might look like

And you're right, it is a good idea to have the Valetta ZnCds film on the same thread.

As Waynos pointed out in another thread, this film has the added advantage of showing an aircraft delivered BW attack (albeit using simulants) while at the same time showing a high level contrail. It also shows a militarily useful aspect of Biological Warfare - the fact that the aerosol rapidly disperses thus preventing an enemy to realise that an attack is taking place.

Contrails on the other hand make their presence pretty well known


zero lift

Originally posted by zero lift
Interested to hear that you're meeting up with Peter - does his new book deal with the 1960's, or is it another Home Defence book similar to 'The Secret State'?

zero lift

Yes his new book is basiclly an addition to Secret State... not so much a re-hash of already published stuff but as far as I understood it was new material.

Originally posted by zero lift
I've also been in contact with him over the years whenever I get my mitts on something exotic. I sent him the original declassified docs concerning Macmillan's Nuclear Deputies and the Shakesperian nicknames Mac gave them (Gravedigger 1 and Gravedigger2). I also sent him some of my PYTHON concept docs. I've since gathered quite a bit more material - proposals for PYTHON leaders to use dispersed Bank of England gold to pay for the post- nuclear strike resupply of the UK, Operation CANDID (Protection of the Royal Family in an Emergency), and the initial dispersal locations for the UKSA and NATA components of the PYTHON concept. Very interesting stuff

zero lift

any new info you have on Python is great, I will send you my new email via a PM so we can communicate directly

Thanks

snnopyuk

reply to post by zero lift


i'm led to understand that they have/had other aerosols/dispersants with the ability to incapacitate large crowds (when it kicks in). doubt it'll make the government surphlus auctions.
starred.
f(uk).

As Waynos pointed out in another thread, this film has the added advantage of showing an aircraft delivered BW attack (albeit using simulants) while at the same time showing a high level contrail. It also shows a militarily useful aspect of Biological Warfare - the fact that the aerosol rapidly disperses thus preventing an enemy to realise that an attack is taking place.

Contrails on the other hand make their presence pretty well known

Yes, that makes a very nice contrast:

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
Collection of documents relating to Porton Down testing - also alleges public testing carried on until 1975, and that biological warfare testing was done in royal Mailrooms in response to the anthrax scares of 2001 that included the release of live bacillus subtilis

I looked up British tanker aircraft used for ice testing and found that 1 particular one is still around - WV787. There is quite a lot of info around on this aircraft as it is now in a museum - Google search for WV787, including this photo -



(from here)

I do not know whether the trail in the picture is from a water spray or something else, but it is interesting to note that the aircraft is also making contrails, and the differences between the spray trail and the contrail -
1/ no gap
2/ the spray trail is much less visible than the contrail
3/ the spray trail is diminishing within the width of the picture - the contrails are getting bigger

I suspect the difference in visibility is possibly due to the size of the particles generated - the spray is probably generating much larger droplets than the nucleating particles being generated by the engines - it is designed to simulate water, and so is not pulling moisture from the atmosphere as the exhaust does.

As you are probably already aware, the aircraft pictured is the A&AEE Canberra WV787, aka the Icing Tanker Aircraft. This dual-use aircraft had a more clandestine role as a Biological Warfare research aircraft for the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE) Porton Down.

In 1963, Napiers put forward a design stidy for an icing tanker research aircraft based on the Canberra bomber. It was obvious that such an aircraft could also serve as a research aircraft into defence against biological warfare. As a result, discussions took place between the Ministry of Aviation and the Army Department where it was agreed that the project should go ahead as a joint venture between the two departments. The Army Department spec called for an aircraft capable of spraying bacterial slurry at a rate of 40 gallons per minute while flying at a speed of 400 knots along a track 100 miles long. In order to achive the proposed dual role the storage tank and spray lines were constructed using stainless steel.

Porton went on to use WV787 in a number of public area BW field trials, during which it sprayed massive amounts of the BW simulants E.coli MRE162 and Bacillus globigii over Tarrant Rushton airfield and surrounding countryside. Its final use as a BW research aircraft included a number of early LIDAR BW detection trials in Lyme Bay in the late 1960's.

reply to post by zero lift


What constitutes "massive amounts"?

also from here apaprently it had spray nozzles underneath the engine exhausts too - site - but I can't find any pictures that show them

I'm planning t take my camera to Newark, where WV787 resides, on Saturday. I'll try to get some detail shots if I can. Any particular area you,d like? (access permitting)

reply to post by waynos


apparently the spray gear is no longer fitted - but under the engine exhausts may show residual traces of whatever was there - patches, fittings, discolouration.

There are already plenty of photos of the boom

I sdee reading Prof Spratts Independant review of health hazards that the Canberra was "capable" of releasing 10 times as much as the maximum release from the ship that was used off Devon, but the records show no such large release. Instead they show it's largest release was about the same size, and because of its speed the actual exposure might have been less -

The modified Canberra bomber was capable of delivering about 8 x 1016 bacteria - nearly ten times the greatest amount sprayed from the Icewhale. Development note 67 describes the testing of this aircraft and the release in April 1967 of about 200 gallons of E. coli MRE162. Although not clearly stated, the E. coli was probably mixed with B. globigii spores. The location of the release is not shown in the report but was Tarrant Rushton Airfield, Dorset (near Blandford Forum). This corresponds to a release of about 9 x 10^15 E. coli MRE162, an amount close to the maximum used in the large-scale releases from Icewhale off the Dorset coast.

Note 71 describes two further releases from the Canberra bomber in June 1967, and two in October 1967, at Tarrant Rushton Airfield. The amount of bacteria released appears to have been about 12 gallons (a rate of release of 70 gallons per minute for 10-12 seconds) which is estimated to correspond to a release of about 10^15 E. coli bacteria and a slightly smaller number of B. globigii spores.

In neither of these development notes is it possible to estimate the numbers of bacteria present in the bacterial cloud and it is therefore impossible to estimate the inhaled doses of E. coli and B. globigii around the points of release. The much faster speed of the Canberra bomber compared to the Icewhale should have resulted in a greater dilution of the cloud and it is reasonable to assume that the release of 9 x 10^15 bacteria from the Canberra in the experiment described in Note 67 would have given inhaled doses of E. coli MRE162 outside of the airport that are no greater than those obtained at the coast in the trials from the Icewhale (e.g. MRE Field Trial Report No. 3).

In the referenced parts of the report releases from ETV Icewhale aer noted as being from 1.3x10^15 to 1 x 10^16 bacteria - hence the comment that the release from the Canberra was about the same size.

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
reply to post by zero lift

 

What constitutes "massive amounts"?

Around 200 gallons. This corresponds to a release of about 9 x 10¹⁵ of E. coli MRE 162, close to that disseminated by ETV ICEWHALE during its 'massive crosswind line releases' - hence the use of the word 'massive'.

also from here apaprently it had spray nozzles underneath the engine exhausts too - site - but I can't find any pictures that show them

All Porton ITA related docs only refer to two different types of spray-rakes, aech fixed to the boom: one for BW field trials and one for Icing Research. Absolutely no mention of engine exhaust spray-nozzles.
You might be interested to learn that the IWM Film and Video Archive hold a1972 film of the ITA undergoing its icing research role.

Film Number: MTE 3482

Film focusing on Canberra WV787, a unique aircraft specially modified for trials work, participating in icing trials at the Aeroplane and Armament Expermimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.

Here's an interesting image of (apparently) WV787

memberfiles.freewebs.com...

close up:

Originally posted by zero lift

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
reply to post by zero lift

 

What constitutes "massive amounts"?

Around 200 gallons. This corresponds to a release of about 9 x 10¹⁵ of E. coli MRE 162, close to that disseminated by ETV ICEWHALE during its 'massive crosswind line releases' - hence the use of the word 'massive'.

It seems like emotive language that is not actualy used in the report in regard to the aircraft release.

MRE Field Trial Report No. 6
Five further massive releases of viable E. coli MRE162 plus B. globigii spores were carried out as close as 1 mile off the Dorset coast between November 1967 and January 1968. Each experiment involved two releases of bacteria, separated by about 2 hours, over the same part of the coast. The amount of E. coli in each of the two releases was about half of that in the previous releases; the total amount of E. coli released in the two arms of each experiment was therefore similar to that in the earlier releases.

So it the word is accurate by association, but I think a better justification would have been the section above and noting that the amounts refered to are of the same magnitude, and that the Canbera was used for ONE such release - and several much smaller ones.

also from here apaprently it had spray nozzles underneath the engine exhausts too - site - but I can't find any pictures that show them

All Porton ITA related docs only refer to two different types of spray-rakes, aech fixed to the boom: one for BW field trials and one for Icing Research. Absolutely no mention of engine exhaust spray-nozzles.

Very possibly they were found to be not much use for the stated purpose - mixing something with jet exhaust seems a good way to seriously skew results!

You might be interested to learn that the IWM Film and Video Archive hold a1972 film of the ITA undergoing its icing research role.

Film Number: MTE 3482

Film focusing on Canberra WV787, a unique aircraft specially modified for trials work, participating in icing trials at the Aeroplane and Armament Expermimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.

Next time I'm over that was I hope I'll remember to drop in and have a look!

reply to post by Uncinus


Might well be - that guy has a LOT of Canberra photos!!

But not very many of exhaust pipes to compare!

Edit - but that said a search for canbera exhausts find this site - plane-crazy.purplecloud.net...

If you look carefully under the engines you can see the pipes.

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul

Originally posted by zero lift

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
reply to post by zero lift

 

What constitutes "massive amounts"?

Around 200 gallons. This corresponds to a release of about 9 x 10¹⁵ of E. coli MRE 162, close to that disseminated by ETV ICEWHALE during its 'massive crosswind line releases' - hence the use of the word 'massive'.

It seems like emotive language that is not actualy used in the report in regard to the aircraft release.

Nope, I was clearly using the term ‘massive’ in a descriptive manner, as shown by my explanation.

You chose to see it as emotive.

MRE Field Trial Report No. 6
Five further massive releases of viable E. coli MRE162 plus B. globigii spores were carried out as close as 1 mile off the Dorset coast between November 1967 and January 1968. Each experiment involved two releases of bacteria, separated by about 2 hours, over the same part of the coast. The amount of E. coli in each of the two releases was about half of that in the previous releases; the total amount of E. coli released in the two arms of each experiment was therefore similar to that in the earlier releases.

So it the word is accurate by association, but I think a better justification would have been the section above and noting that the amounts refered to are of the same magnitude, and that the Canbera was used for ONE such release - and several much smaller ones.

Hmm...how many times have I advised you to always read the original scientific reports (MRE Development Notes 67 &71) . You might discover that the Canberra conducted two 100 gallon releases at Tarrant Rushton, not one.

One also has to bear in mind that, contrary to promises made by the MOD to Brian Spratt, he was not given access to all of Porton’s public area BW experiments. For example, not included in his report were a series of LIDAR BW detection tests which also involved WV787.

This of course begs the question as to how many other Porton BW field trials were not referred to Brian Spratt's review?

And if we’re being picky, contrary to the report section highlighted above by yourself, nowhere in MRE Field Trial Report No 6 does it use the word ‘massive’ – that is a description used only by Brian Spratt in his review.



For the record, the amounts of bacterial releases, described by Porton Down in MRE FTR No 3 as massive line releases, varied between 19 - 100 gallons, with an avarage release of 41 gallons.

also from here apaprently it had spray nozzles underneath the engine exhausts too - site - but I can't find any pictures that show them

All Porton ITA related docs only refer to two different types of spray-rakes, aech fixed to the boom: one for BW field trials and one for Icing Research. Absolutely no mention of engine exhaust spray-nozzles.

Very possibly they were found to be not much use for the stated purpose - mixing something with jet exhaust seems a good way to seriously skew results!

No, according to MRE Development Notes 67 &71, Porton only ever used the boom mounted spray-rake for bacterial dissemination.

Originally posted by zero lift

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul

Originally posted by zero lift

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
reply to post by zero lift

 

What constitutes "massive amounts"?

Around 200 gallons. This corresponds to a release of about 9 x 10¹⁵ of E. coli MRE 162, close to that disseminated by ETV ICEWHALE during its 'massive crosswind line releases' - hence the use of the word 'massive'.

It seems like emotive language that is not actualy used in the report in regard to the aircraft release.

Nope, I was clearly using the term ‘massive’ in a descriptive manner, as shown by my explanation.

You chose to see it as emotive.

I chose to point out that it "seems like emotive language" - perception is quite important in communications, and good communication on a factual subject should probably avoid anything that might be perceived as emotive.

just my take on it of course.

Hmm...how many times have I advised you to always read the original scientific reports (MRE Development Notes 67 &71) . You might discover that the Canberra conducted two 100 gallon releases at Tarrant Rushton, not one.

since the original reports do not seem to be on the 'net, perhaps you could make them availablesomewhere?

And if we’re being picky, contrary to the report section highlighted above by yourself, nowhere in MRE Field Trial Report No 6 does it use the word ‘massive’ – that is a description used only by Brian Spratt in his review.

Even better reason not to use it then.

Obviously the front cover - do you have the rest of it available for dissemination?

also from here apaprently it had spray nozzles underneath the engine exhausts too - site - but I can't find any pictures that show them

All Porton ITA related docs only refer to two different types of spray-rakes, aech fixed to the boom: one for BW field trials and one for Icing Research. Absolutely no mention of engine exhaust spray-nozzles.

Very possibly they were found to be not much use for the stated purpose - mixing something with jet exhaust seems a good way to seriously skew results!

No, according to MRE Development Notes 67 &71, Porton only ever used the boom mounted spray-rake for bacterial dissemination.

You may notice that
1/ I was was noting that the nozzles were fitted, and
2/ I didn't say the nozzles were used for anything in particular, and was pondering reasons why they might not be used.