[vannrox]

I compiled this list. It concerns the current discussion on tactical nuclear weapons and their applications against Bin Laden.

[vannrox]

52 Kton should read 52,000 Kton. Sorry.

[1000Mhz]

The largest explosion ever conducted was 61,000 Kton, and the largest weapon ever stocked in the US arsnel was 52 Kton.

What the heck have you been smokin? There are tons of weapons in the megaton + range. The largest detonated was over 50 megatons which dwarfs this kiloton stuff.

Buh-bye.

[MaxwellWolf]

Screw the treaty. There is no time to worry about this crap when our survival is at stake. Dead people and countries don't have to worry about rules.

[Diogenesis]

Thank you.

===========================

""One senior adviser to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the Iraqi leader would not be deterred by current U.S. nuclear weapons 'because he knows a U.S. President
would not drop a 100-kiloton bomb on Baghdad' and destroy the entire city," Walter Pincus of The Washington Post reported on April 15. The implication is that if the United States
builds a bunker-buster, it would feel free to use the weapon. "

No wonder they have felt free to give us Nile Fever, Anthrax and 911.

So far, these weapons have not deterred because they are only potential energy.

[Taxbilly]

OK now let's pick one and drop the darn thing.

[Cobra64]

Instead of dropping a bunker blaster ON a cave where it may not reach the objective penetration for a cave under thousands of feet of granite (like our military operations in Cheyenne Mt.,CO), Why not mount one of the mini-nukes onto the nose a laser guided rocket and laser guide the rocket IN-TO a cave?

This would take care of the "under ground" terrorists hiding IN the cave. Those not mist-i-fied by the explosion, could dance and cheer while letting the radiation and their biological weapons overwhelm them while the entrance to the cave crumbles shut.

No atmospheric radiation, the bad guys are with their allah, and we get a significant military score.

No muss, no fuss!

[glock rocks]

The United States would be reneging on its pledge not to develop new nuclear weapons, and this would violate the spirit if not the letter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which are geared to the elimination of nuclear weapons, not the making of new ones.

after all, gotta be nuclear pc... whilst the chinese and north koreans pass us up. thanks, x42.

great post, vannrox

[jimtorr]

Explosivley impressive. Thanks. Hopefully it will dampen the eagerness of some to use these things. I do support the use if someone unleashes a mass bio or chem or radiological attack on the U.S., if we can figure out who done it. I won't like it, but it will be necessary.

I never knew how small the micro nukes are, or that the B61 was capable of a yield under 1kt. These would be the bombs to convert into bunker-busters, I would think. I wonder if they were ever made?

[Brett66]

Excellent post. Here's a couple of interesting links:

High energy weapons archive

Cobalt Bombs(doomsday weapons)

[95Tarheel]

I could be wrong, but I think the reason is that the biggest explosion the US ever set off was more like 15 Mtons. (Castle... Bravo, I think) Therefore, a US picture of a 51 Mton explosion doesn't exist. (I think the US might have made some bombs that big though.) The Soviets detonated the largest device, and I think the estimates are it was 50+ Mtons. If anyone knows of where I can get a picture of this, I would be grateful!

As an aside, I've read that there is no practicality to building a weapon capable of anything more than 200 Mtons b/c the additional explosive force cannot practically be directed toward the earth's surface, and would instead blow a hole in the atmosphere.

Cool pictures- I'm saving some!

[Texaggie79]

What are the criss cross smoke patterns in the 2 ones near the top?

[eclectic]

52 Mton is what the doctor ordered ;-)

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Any footage of ultra small warheads designed for howitzer shells? I know they used to exist, do they still lie around in a magazine somewhere?

[Terrorista Nada]

Sunset in Afghanistan.

[Clinton's a rapist]

Glad to see we have these in our arsenal. We are not going to get into an extended shooting match with Saddam Hussein while his anthrax-equipped sleepers are capable of inflicting millions of casualties here whenever he gives the word. If we decide to take him out -- and the only other option is capitulation to his biowar blackmail -- we are going to have to decapitate the beast in one fell swoop. I can't see anyway of doing that except to use nukes. At the same time, a nuclear attack on Iraq will provide the right context for the necessarily extreme measures that would have to be taken domestically to minimize the possible retaliation from his sleepers. Finally, the use of nukes will also send the appropriate signal to the islamics that we do mean business, and we will engage and destroy anyone who tries to destroy us. How's that for a hat trick?

[akron]

Input your address into Blast Mapper and see if you would survive

[TheLion]

If you think the Boston scenario is grisly, I remember reading a book years ago about thermonuclear warfare. The writer theorized the impact of detonating a second large blast immideately after the first one went off and just above it. The first explosion would then be forced outward instead of upward. The rest of the mess,you can imagine.

[Gordian Blade]

Somebody obviously likes big firecrackers.

[Darksheare]

We could mount a few 1 kiloton weapons on robots and send them down the caves to go and pet the pretty posies and get all groovy and peacful with the talidweebs... right after they turn to ash in 3 shakes of a lambs tail.
Or we could just turn the place into a glassy sea mixed with fire and smell the freshly baked trinitite*(Of which I have some in my mineral collection.. don't handle it too often, and I prolly lost ten years of my life due to the alpha particles it gives off.. No, don't rightly remember how I got it.. just kinda love the thought that Osama might end up under some of it..) I love the smell of fused Tritium, U239/238 in the morning, smells like.. victory.

[AMERIKA]

The terrorists were low tech (box cutters), why can't we be?

Why don't we gas the tunnels.