Neurotoxins Are A Rising Threat. Here’s How the Military Will Detect Them
As Alexey Navalny recovers, a new spray promises far faster detection of these deadly chemicals.
Patrick Tucker
By Patrick Tucker
Technology Editor
September 8, 2020
If Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was, as German leaders say, poisoned with the deadly Soviet-era Novichok neurotoxin, it would once again highlight the willingness of the Kremlin to deploy such toxins in civilian and urban areas — and the urgent need for better ways to detect their use. The U.S. military will soon roll out one such tool: a spray that can alert troops and first responders to the presence of such neurotoxins.
Novichok, a Russian neurotoxin that GRU agents used against double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018, is difficult to detect until it’s too late. Same with VX, the neurotoxin that North Korean operatives used against Kim Jong-nam in 2017 — an oily, heavy, non-volatile liquid that doesn’t decompose quickly or vaporize easily. So sensors that detect impurities in the air are largely ineffective.
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/neurotoxins-are-rising-threat-heres-how-military-will-detect-them/168304/
