North Korea is reportedly testing loading anthrax onto intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the United States. The marriage of biological weapons with long range missiles at first glance sounds like nightmare fuel, but sounds bizarre given the country’s emphasis on nuclear weapons.

Japan’s Asahi newspaper, citing an unnamed Japanese intelligence source with ties to South Korean intelligence, says that North Korea is experimenting with the biological weapon anthrax to determine if the spores can survive the heat and pressure of reentry aboard a missile warhead. According to The Asahi Shimbun, the tests are centered around whether or not spores can survive temperatures of up to 7,000 degrees.

North Korea has already demonstrated a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-15, which missile experts believe can reach all of the United States. Presumably, the anthrax-filled warheads would be deployed on these missiles, as well as shorter range missiles aimed at U.S. bases on Japan, Guam, and South Korea.

This is a curious story for a number of reasons. For one, the sourcing—an anonymous Japanese intelligence official—is thin. Second, transporting anthrax spores in a missile warhead is relatively easy. Anthrax pores would not have to survive 7,000 degree reentry temperatures, as warheads insulate their payloads against such extremes of heat. If all ICBM warheads had to survive a 7,000 degree roasting, any payload, nuclear weapons included, would burn up during atmospheric reentry.

Third, although North Korea does have an biological weapons program, it’s been eclipsed by the country’s nuclear program. Biological weapons such as anthrax used to be one of the country’s main weapons of mass destruction, with production overseen by the country’s Fifth Machine Industry Bureau, but nuclear weapons easily outperform biological weapons as agents of terror. Nuclear weapons quickly incinerate their targets with heat and blast, irradiating everything around it with lethal levels of radiation. A biological weapon such as anthrax could take weeks or even months to generate the same level of destruction.

In other words, there’s little point in deploying anthrax spores on the country’s handful of ICBMs if nuclear weapons are available. That’s not to say that North Korea wouldn’t use anthrax in a war. If war begins, North Korea’s only really option is to attempt to shock the U.S. and its regional allies into not responding with a regime-ending campaign. Shorter range missiles such as the No Dong would almost certainly be launched against U.S. military bases in Japan, Guam, and South Korea, loaded with nuclear weapons, chemical weapons or anthrax. Decontaminating such bases in the aftermath of an attack could be a lengthy process that could shutter bases for days, weeks, or even months. Let's hope we never find out exactly how long.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io