New Delhi: If you are wondering what the abreviation means, CBRN refers to weaponization or non-weaponized chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials. When wars and conflicts have become a matter of not just aggresive nationalism but show of power and international alignments, use of such material further pushes the end goal of human suffering and widespread destruction. Every country is therefore doing whats best for them.
Indian Army has signed a contract for procurement of 223 Automatic Chemical Agent Detection and Alarm (ACADA) systems with M/s L&T Ltd at a cost of Rs 80.43 Cr, under the Buy Indian (IDDM) category. More than 80% of the components and sub-systems of the equipment will be sourced locally under Atmanirbhar Bharat.
ACADA has been designed and developed by DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior and marks a significant milestone in the nation’s indigenisation initiative in the niche CBRN domain.
The ACADA system is used to detect chemical warfare agents (CWA) and programmed toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) by sampling the air from the environment. It works on the principle of Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and contains two highly sensitive IMS cells for continuous detection and simultaneous monitoring of harmful/ toxic substances. Induction of ACADA in the field units will substantially enhance Indian Army’s defensive CBRN capability for operations, as also for peacetime, especially for responding to disaster relief situations related to industrial accidents.
Speaking on the collaboration CBRN Expert and author of Toxic Portants,
Dr Ram Athavale said, 'It is a longfelt upgrade. Till now chemical detectors were imported. This is the first time we will have an indigenous developed and produced chemical detector.'
Colonel Athavale (Retd) says, 'The ACADA is a stand alone Chemical agent detector which can give an early warning of a toxic chemical weapon release. This is the first time an Indian made ACADA is going to enter service with the Indian Army. The DRDO developed and L&T made chemical agent detector will greatly enhance the CBRN defence capability of our Army and First Response forces.'
On 28 April 2004, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1540 (2004) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter which affirms that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
UNSCR 1540 obliges States to refrain from supporting by any means non-State actors from developing, acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, transporting, transferring, or using nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and their delivery systems
Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants. They can be deadly and highly contagious. Diseases caused by CBRN weapons would not confine themselves to national borders and could spread rapidly around the world.
As per a report of National Centre for Biotechnology Information, violent Non-State Actors were responsible for 565 unique events around the world involving the use of CBRN weapons from 1990-2020. The United States (118), Russia (49), and Iraq (43) accounted for the top three countries where these events occurred. While CBRN events remain relatively rare, technological advances have the potential to facilitate the use of such weapons as part of a hybrid warfare strategy with significant repercussions for civilian health and health care systems.
Some of the countries who have used CBRN weapons are Iraq, Syria, Japan, US and Germany. Countries like the US, UK, Japan, Germany and Russia were the pioneers in the field of chemical weapons research and production in the world.
In recent times the 1995 Japanese subway attack demonstrated this ability when the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo used lethal sarin nerve gas in a busy subway in Tokyo, killing and injuring many people.
