Posted on 11/04/2011 5:51:41 PM PDT by JerseyanExile
Instead of moving nuclear material in armored, well-defended convoys, the [Pakistani government] prefers to move material by subterfuge, in civilian-style vehicles without noticeable defenses, in the regular flow of traffic…according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, the Pakistanis have begun using this low-security method to transfer not merely the “de-mated” component nuclear parts but “mated” nuclear weapons. Western nuclear experts have feared that Pakistan is building small, “tactical” nuclear weapons for quick deployment on the battlefield. In fact, not only is Pakistan building these devices, it is also now moving them over roads.
What this means, in essence, is this: In a country that is home to the harshest variants of Muslim fundamentalism, and to the headquarters of the organizations that espouse these extremist ideologies…nuclear bombs capable of destroying entire cities are transported in delivery vans on congested and dangerous roads. And Pakistani and American sources say that since the raid on Abbottabad, the Pakistanis have provoked anxiety inside the Pentagon by increasing the pace of these movements. In other words, the Pakistani government is willing to make its nuclear weapons more vulnerable to theft by jihadists simply to hide them from the United States, the country that funds much of its military budget.
(Excerpt) Read more at battleland.blogs.time.com ...
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/12/the-ally-from-hell/8730/
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/pakistan-nukes-delivery-vans/
Oh, wow! How stupid. They’re just asking to have those devices stolen.
they are going to lose one or more in transit, whether by accident or through an “arrangement.”
They don’t realize that we can detect radioactive material from the air or space?
Pakistan is, in reality, an enemy nation. We would be better off if India completely defeated Pakistan in a war. Unfortunately, China would probably intervene and help Pakistan and we could end up with a world war on our hands.
It won’t be long before several are missing.
I think that they want some to be “stolen”.Better that than having given some to Islamic crazies,gives them plausable deniability.
Not physically possible. We're talking about getting at most a few high energy photons at the receivers, probably mostly zero. Triangulating would be impossible.
It’s called “false flag”.
They will be “stolen”. The goal is for them to be “stolen”.
When they feel higher threat from the USA than muzzie nuts from hell, that should reallllly tell you something about where there hearts are, about now...
I am pretty sure India and US can take them down quickly.
They don't care if one of their bombs gets stolen. They assume it will be used against one of their enemies, which is anyone in the west and India.
To detect a plutonium-based weapon, my understanding is that even with the best detection technology one must be well within 100 meters for a discernible hit.
The problem with that line of thinking - that they want the nukes to be stolen - is that the devices may not be used against their enemies, but against themselves.
This is called, dumb and dumber.
Not everyone in Pakistan loves and cherishes the present government.
paging Seal Team 1-7. We have a little job for you gents.
It depends on the size of the detector array. For an inconspicuous vehicle-mounted deal you’re probably right. If you could erect a gamma detector say 100 sq meters you could go out farther. If you had one 1,000 sq meters or so you could mount it to Art Bell’s triangle ship and hover overhead.
of course they are
I’d recommend beefing up detection... but it won’t matter with 0failure at the helm. he and his crew will just give directions around the detection units
staying away from the major cities would be a good idea
That world war is coming is a given.
the only issue is, are we getting more or less prepared?
well now, theres an interesting cover... no cover at all. just a massive, slow flying, UFO... that is also scanning for certain materials
These people do not think like we do. Until we understand that, we will not understand them.
sounds like somebody needs their mouth washed out with soap, and then their throat cut...
Or little bitty tiny UFOs with gnat buzzing capability.
It doesn't matter how large your detector is if the signal of interest is weaker than the natural noise. There are methods to find the signal in the noise but you need to know more - much more - about the signal. This is studied in great detail in the Information Theory.
So if the nuke doesn't radiate much more than a slab of granite that a contractor is carrying to install as a kitchen counter then there isn't much of a chance to tell the difference between the two. More likely you won't be able to detect either of those sources. To be successful you'd need to cover the entire country with detectors, and I'm sure Pakistani military will not be too happy about that.
It's also possible that the trucks that Pakistan uses to carry nukes have internal shielding. A common container can carry a lot of cargo - 20 to 25 tons.
Containers are also all alike, sturdy, and sealed - those are desired qualities for a covert transportation of stuff. A container can be quickly moved from a truck to a rail car, a ship, or it can be stacked so deep that nobody will be able to dig it out without some major time with the crane - not something that can be easily done by thieves.
Well, trying not to say too much, but in the 80s my brother worked on Bayesian probability applications in a very similar context: more or less continuously updating probabilities that the incoming is what you think it is; whether the incoming is a particle or something else.
Try "sightseeing" around Kirana hills... say Sargodha, then routes east to Lahore, and from there, south. Also in and out of Taxila, Wah and Kamra...
...keeping in mind that guys on the ground there have not worked out so well recently. The ISI would be itching to create another incident.
And also bear in mind, the locals (non-military) love to decorate their trucks, buses, vans, you name it, anything that moves. They paint them with weird colors and hang all kinds of cr@p off it.
If I were thinking like them, I'd strip down something like this:
And shove single launchers in to something you see a lot of over there... perhaps one of their brightly decorated bus/van things, or smaller local-style trucks with the large overhang on the front.
Nope,on rivetjoint flights they light up like the 4th of July
Instead of moving nuclear material in armored, well-defended convoys, the [Pakistani government] prefers to move material by subterfuge, in civilian-style vehicles without noticeable defenses, in the regular flow of traffic…according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, the Pakistanis have begun using this low-security method to transfer not merely the "de-mated" component nuclear parts but "mated" nuclear weapons.I'm just glad this hasn't gotten any publicity. Thanks JerseyanExile.
"...for I shall stand with them, should the political winds shift in an unfavorable direction."
Go blow yourself, Bambi.
Full Disclosure: *if* terrorists get hold of those nukes, and go after the US mainland, wouldn't it be ironic if they go after Harvard, Hollywood, Chicago, and Manhattan, in that order?
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