The BIGEYE was an air-launched 500 pound-class canister weapon to be delivered by various U.S. Navy and Air Force aircraft. The interior of the weapon consisted of two separate containers of non-lethal chemical compounds, stored separately and assembled only immediately before flight, and then combined to create the active chemical nerve agent VX only after release from the aircraft. It was the storage separation of less aggressive chemical components that ensured safe storage/handling and simpler maintenance requirements. The bomb was a Navy weapon design that would atomize the percutaneous nerve agent VX over a targeted area by releasing the binary-generated agent while gliding through the air over the target.Mauroni, Albert J. Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook, (Google Books), ABC-CLIO, 2003, p. 38–39, ().
