The goal of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD's) Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) is to provide support and world-class capabilities enabling he U.S. Armed Forces to fight and win decisively in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) environments. To accomplish this objective, the CBDP must maintain robust science and technology capabilities to support the research, development, testing, and evaluation required for the creation and validation of the products the program supplies. The threat from chemical and biological attack evolves due to the changing nature of conflict and rapid advances in science and technology (S&T), so the core S&T capabilities that must be maintained by the CBDP must also continue to evolve. In order to address the challenges facing the DoD, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) asked the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a study to identify the core capabilities in S&T that must be supported by the program. The NRC Committee on Determining Core Capabilities in Chemical and Biological Defense Research and Development examined the capabilities necessary for the chemical and biological defense S&T program in the context of the threat and of the program's stated mission and priorities. Determining Core Capabilities in Chemical and Biological Defense Science and Technology contains the committee's findings and recommendations. It is intended to assist the DASD CBD in determining the best strategy for acquiring, developing, and/or maintaining the needed capabilities.

This Congressionally-mandated report identifies areas for further cooperation with Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program of the Department of Defense in the specific area of prevention of proliferation of biological weapons. The report reviews relevant U.S. government programs, and particularly the CTR program, and identifies approaches for overcoming obstacles to cooperation and for increasing the long-term impact of the program. It recommends strong support for continuation of the CTR program.

In recent years, substantial efforts have been initiated to develop new drugs, vaccines, and other medical interventions against biological agents that could be used in bioterrorist attacks against civilian populations. According to a new congressionally mandated report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council of the National Academies, to successfully develop these drugs, vaccines, and other medical interventions against biowarfare agents, Congress should authorize the creation of a new agency within the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense. The committee recommended that Congress should improve liability protections for those who develop and manufacture these products, to stimulate willingness to invest in new research and development for biowarfare protection. Giving Full Measure to Countermeasures also identifies other challengesâ€"such as the need for appropriate animal models and laboratories equipped with high-level biosafety protectionsâ€"that will require attention if DoD efforts to develop new medical countermeasures are to be successful.

This report provides funding obligations for the Department of Defense Chemical Warfare-Biological Defense research program. Keywords: Biological warfare; Chemical warfare; Military budgets; Defense systems; Military research; Antidotes; Biological agents; Decontamination; Detectors; Pathogenic materials; Protective equipment; Protective clothing; Toxicity; Computerized simulation; Data bases; Binary bombs; Hardened structures; Vaccines.