VX nerve agent

The VX nerve agent is a powerful chemical weapon, that targets victims' nervous systems.

It is a volatile chemical, so it has a short shelf life. It is called a binary weapon because it is so dangerous that it is shipped and stored as two distinct precursor chemicals, that are mixed just before it is employed -- like 5-minute epoxy.

The VX weapons employed by the USA and USSR, were designed with two chambers, each containing one precursor chemical. When a chemical shell was fired from a cannon, firing the shell broke open the capsules. The spin force applied to the shell stirred and mixed the two chemicals together, forming the deadly VX. More primitive nations, like Iraq, required a volunteer. The volunteer would put on a protective suit, and then pour the two chemicals into the shell. Adrenaline and atropine are antidotes for VX exposure. If the volunteer exposed themselves they would use a device like an epipen to inject the antidotes.

When the shell hits a small bursting charge aersolizes the VX. Victims don't have to breath in the VX. VX can be absorbed by the skin. Even a minute droplet landing on exposed skin will be fatal.

VX was the murder weapon when Kim Jong-nam was assassinated. North Korean intelligence officials recruited two young women, without telling them their real job was to kill Kim. They thought the were employed by video-makers, who covertly filmed embarrassing incidents. They were to rush up to Kim, and smear his face with a liquid. Since each woman's hands carried a differet chemical, it wasn't fatal to them.

VX interferes with nerve impulses. Victims eyes dilate. They fall down, and lose control of their bowels and bladder. Death comes from asphyxiation, when the lose control of the muscles required for breathing. A victim will die, in minutes, from a large dose.