Novichok, which is Russian for newcomer, is considered one of the more lethal and hard-to-monitor agents, according to experts.
This deadly agent is at least as toxic as VX nerve gas. Novichok is comprised of two benign chemicals that become lethal only when mixed together. This type of chemical is called a binary substance. It is said to be relatively easy to manufacture and can be readily made from standard ingredients found in most pesticide factories. Since Novichok can be produced from standard industrial and agricultural chemicals, the need for producing and stockpiling a large amount of hazardous substances is avoided.
The Russian military, sources said, developed Novichok in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a way to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) because the substance is made from chemicals that are not covered by CWC restrictions.
This gas is five times as deadly as conventional nerve gases. It is purported that 40,000 tons of Novichok is enough to kill all human life on earth.
It's my underdtanding, but I may be wrong, that current military NBC maks & gear are ineffective against Novachok but I haven't been able to confirm that for certain. Are you afraid yet??????
In a submission before the House Armed Services Committee on 10 September 2002 biowarfare expert Dr Richard Spertzel, who spent years trying to uncover Saddam's secrets while heading the biological wing of UNSCOM in Iraq after Operation Desert Storm, said that there was some evidence that the Iraqis might now also have the deadliest nerve gas of all: Novichok. A product of the Cold War, Novichok is a dozen times more potent than any other agent easily penetrates all known gas masks produced in the West - Israel's included.