Inside the base of the study of British secret weapons

Porton Down, Britain's most controversial secret military research base, is home to many extremely scary experimental projects.

Porton Down is also known as Defense Science and Technology Laboratory . Every year, this base is granted an operating budget of 664 million USD and brings together more than 3,000 working scientists. It is the most controversial, misunderstood and even scientific research facility in the UK.

Gas masks developed by Porton Down.(Photo: BBC).

Covering an area of ​​more than 28 km ² in the British countryside, Porton Down was born 100 years ago to deal with the gas attacks of the German army during World War I. The first poison gas was used. To attack the British soldiers are chlorine gas . Thousands of soldiers suffered severe burns caused by chemicals or died in pain without knowing the cause. After that, both mustard gas and photgen gas were used by the German army.

Mr. Kitchener, British Defense Minister at the time, asked for an immediate response. As a result, Porton Down was established. Scientists here quickly built a gas mask and began experimenting with similar toxic attacks to retaliate against the Germans. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed or injured in this response strategy. This is also one of the reasons World War I is sometimes called the "chemical war".

Studies at Porton Down aim to protect British soldiers and civilians from attacks.(Photo: Alamy).

Fearing the consequences, the world's leading powers signed the Geneva Protocol in 1925 with the aim of banning the use of chemical weapons during the war, but did not limit their development.

In the 1950s, during the Cold War, scientists at Porton Down developed two new chemical agents. Today, one of the two agents is sometimes used as a weapon. Wearing the name of CS (named after its inventor), this gas is more commonly known as "tear gas".

Spicy gas is not a deadly weapon. It is used to control crowds in many parts of the world. However, in the UK, the only people who are forced to contact it are soldiers, and this is part of their training program.

World War I is sometimes called "chemical war" .(Photo: Huw Evans).

The CS is not too dangerous, but another chemical agent developed at Porton Down in the 1950s is different. It is a neurotoxin called Venomous Agent X or VX . Like other neurotoxins like sarin (first developed by Germans in the 1930s), short-term exposure to VX can quickly lead to seizures, paralysis and death.

In the most secure laboratories in Porton Down, chemical agents such as VX and mustard gas are still produced to check the safety of military equipment. These chemical weapons are still being used, especially in conflicts in the Middle East.

Overview of military research base Porton Down.(Photo: DSTL).

Today, the primary task of Porton Down is to study rather than serve war. In a project, scientists here collaborate with experts at Birmingham University to create a device that detects very small fluctuations of gravity, in the hope that it helps them see through walls. and deep underground.

Another study that is more applicable is the use of "synthetic biology" to create armor with more light weight and flexibility but still resisting bullets. The idea behind this project is that by studying how animals create protective shells, we can create ceramic armor.

In addition, scientists in Porton Down studied the threat of biological weapons, such as "dirty bombs" containing pathogens like Ebola virus, with a mortality rate of up to 90%.