13) First Look
Abstract
Often, concerns about new Chemical-Biological (CB) threat agents involve assumptions and suspicions at the ‘worst case’ end of the spectrum – this is inherent in an absence of good, solid data. However, there can be a host of reasons that an extremely deadly substance would make an impractical weapon and should thus be viewed as a less realistic threat. Is it prohibitively expensive to produce a militarily insignificant amount? Is it so fragile that it cannot survive dissemination? Is it so intractable that it cannot be made into a deliverable form? Understanding what threats rise to the credible/actionable level is what First Look is all about. First Look provides the science-based evaluation of known and emerging threat agents to determine their potential hazard to the warfighter. For both chemical and biological agents, this initial fundamental assessment includes evaluation of production/ availability, toxicity screening for chemicals and toxins, growth and/or virulence for biological agents, and feasibility of weaponization. It also develops methods and capabilities to quickly and accurately characterize the properties of chemical, biological, and toxin threat agents. First Look products and data inform warfighter mission planning, requirements generation, capability development, model development, the larger Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) Enterprise, Intelligence and other government stakeholders about known or emerging agent threats.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2025
- Source ID
- b3d519585e191125b45cda0b9bfdc986