4 ms·

I was actually curious how cruise missiles were defined in itar. The definition of missiles is really broad and actually includes lots of UAVs. > “Missiles”. (

I was actually curious how cruise missiles were defined in itar. The definition of missiles is really broad and actually includes lots of UAVs. > “Missiles”. (All) Rocket systems (including ballistic missiles, space launch vehicles, and sounding rockets) and unmanned aerial vehicle systems (including cruise missiles, target drones, and reconnaissance drones) “capable of” delivering at least 500 kilograms payload to a range of at least 300 kilometers.

dmurray 8y ago
> The definition of missiles is really broad...delivering at least 500 kilograms payload to a range of at least 300 kilometers. Not as broad as I would have thought. You could do a lot of damage with 499 kg of TNT, and nuclear bombs weigh less. Little Boy was 64 kg of uranium according to [0]. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy
- gpm 8y ago
  "Honestly officer, this nuclear... fire assisted catapult... isn't a missile".
  - krapp 8y ago
    "My lawyers advise me that I am technically correct, which, legally speaking, is the best kind of correct."
- darkpuma 8y ago
  Consider the W48 warhead, the entirety of which (not just the core, but the whole thing) was 6.1 inches in diameter and less than 60kg. Or the W54 was reputedly much lighter, but with a larger diameter.
- nostrademons 8y ago
  The fissile core is a tiny part of the weight of a nuclear weapon, though. Little Boy weighed almost 10,000 lbs; it took a lot of explosive, metal, and circuitry to detonate it.
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    The Little Boy was seriously overbuilt. The W9, W19 and W33 warheads are examples of gun-type bombs similar to Little Boy with comparable cores and yields, but in much smaller packages. A gun-type bomb doesn't require a very complex system to set it off. The complicated bomb was Fat Man, an implosion bomb, that required very precisely calculated explosive lenses and precise timing circuits.
userbinator 8y ago
On the bright side, 500kg and 300km seem to be quite a bit beyond what typical model rockets can do, so at least with that definition they might not be considered missiles?

dmurray 8y ago

> The definition of missiles is really broad...delivering at least 500 kilograms payload to a range of at least 300 kilometers. Not as broad as I would have thought. You could do a lot of damage with 499 kg of TNT, and nuclear bombs weigh less. Little Boy was 64 kg of uranium according to [0]. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy

gpm 8y ago
"Honestly officer, this nuclear... fire assisted catapult... isn't a missile".
- krapp 8y ago
  "My lawyers advise me that I am technically correct, which, legally speaking, is the best kind of correct."
darkpuma 8y ago
Consider the W48 warhead, the entirety of which (not just the core, but the whole thing) was 6.1 inches in diameter and less than 60kg. Or the W54 was reputedly much lighter, but with a larger diameter.
nostrademons 8y ago
The fissile core is a tiny part of the weight of a nuclear weapon, though. Little Boy weighed almost 10,000 lbs; it took a lot of explosive, metal, and circuitry to detonate it.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  The Little Boy was seriously overbuilt. The W9, W19 and W33 warheads are examples of gun-type bombs similar to Little Boy with comparable cores and yields, but in much smaller packages. A gun-type bomb doesn't require a very complex system to set it off. The complicated bomb was Fat Man, an implosion bomb, that required very precisely calculated explosive lenses and precise timing circuits.

userbinator 8y ago

On the bright side, 500kg and 300km seem to be quite a bit beyond what typical model rockets can do, so at least with that definition they might not be considered missiles?