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Those flash blindness goggles are a terrifying reminder of how much effort we have put into delivering weapons of mass destruction.

DocTomoe 5y ago
I think the real lesson is how much effort we put into making bomber crews believe they would return from their bombing runs alive, to functioning airfields, to be used again if necessary.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  Being able to see the instruments, target, etc. during a nuclear war has value even if you're not coming back.
- aerostable_slug 5y ago
  Many aircraft were well aware that they were headed to recovery bases in countries like Turkey, and that their home air base was almost certainly a radiating ruin. SAC reconstitution teams would meet them to refuel & rearm — in theory. A friend's dad was an F-4 pilot and sat on nuclear alert on a carrier in the Med. If the alert a/c (armed with nuclear weapons) were sortied, they were instructed to find a NATO airfield to land at because their carrier was almost certainly at the bottom of the ocean by the time they hit their targets and started their return journey.
  - wrycoder 5y ago
    Victor Alert: 15 Minutes to Armageddon: The Memoir of a Nuke Wild Weasel Pilot Major General Lee Downer, United States Air Force Academy, 1964, served 33 years active duty in the Air Force-14 years in Europe, 2 in the Pacific. Commander, at Squadron and Wing level, he flew almost 4000 hours in F-4, F-111 and F-16 fighters, including over 150 combat missions with the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Danang, South Viet Nam. In 1991 he Commanded Air Forces (AFFOR) and the 7440th Combat Wing based at Incirlik Air Base during Operation Desert Storm. A fully qualified "Gypsy" member of the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron 1969-1973-Hahn, Zweibrucken and Spangdahlem Air Bases
    - aerostable_slug 5y ago
      Very cool, I'll check it out. Thanks!
- refurb 5y ago
  Why wouldn’t they? Or maybe they are circling close to a nuclear explosion and need protection?
  - DocTomoe 5y ago
    Effects of multiple nuclear explosions (blast waves / radiation - aircraft are sensible things, even "hardened" warplanes), their home and secondary bases being primary targets for a soviet retaliation strike, soviet anti-aircraft activities, either ground-based or with fighters (B-52s aren't exactly stealthy), and the fact that even if they make it back somehow, everyone they know is dead or dying horrifically, and the likely chance of a decade-long nuclear winter with nothing growing... War is hell.
xattt 5y ago
They’re also a reminder of the hidden infrastructure and communications that will be unseen and unheard by the world but is at the ready to handle this contingency. You then consider that this infrastructure (ie the googles) has been duplicated by at least two other world superpowers, with each having had a slightly different variations on implementation which inherently reflects the values of the nation.

DocTomoe 5y ago

I think the real lesson is how much effort we put into making bomber crews believe they would return from their bombing runs alive, to functioning airfields, to be used again if necessary.

ceejayoz 5y ago
Being able to see the instruments, target, etc. during a nuclear war has value even if you're not coming back.
aerostable_slug 5y ago
Many aircraft were well aware that they were headed to recovery bases in countries like Turkey, and that their home air base was almost certainly a radiating ruin. SAC reconstitution teams would meet them to refuel & rearm — in theory. A friend's dad was an F-4 pilot and sat on nuclear alert on a carrier in the Med. If the alert a/c (armed with nuclear weapons) were sortied, they were instructed to find a NATO airfield to land at because their carrier was almost certainly at the bottom of the ocean by the time they hit their targets and started their return journey.
- wrycoder 5y ago
  Victor Alert: 15 Minutes to Armageddon: The Memoir of a Nuke Wild Weasel Pilot Major General Lee Downer, United States Air Force Academy, 1964, served 33 years active duty in the Air Force-14 years in Europe, 2 in the Pacific. Commander, at Squadron and Wing level, he flew almost 4000 hours in F-4, F-111 and F-16 fighters, including over 150 combat missions with the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Danang, South Viet Nam. In 1991 he Commanded Air Forces (AFFOR) and the 7440th Combat Wing based at Incirlik Air Base during Operation Desert Storm. A fully qualified "Gypsy" member of the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron 1969-1973-Hahn, Zweibrucken and Spangdahlem Air Bases
  - aerostable_slug 5y ago
    Very cool, I'll check it out. Thanks!
refurb 5y ago
Why wouldn’t they? Or maybe they are circling close to a nuclear explosion and need protection?
- DocTomoe 5y ago
  Effects of multiple nuclear explosions (blast waves / radiation - aircraft are sensible things, even "hardened" warplanes), their home and secondary bases being primary targets for a soviet retaliation strike, soviet anti-aircraft activities, either ground-based or with fighters (B-52s aren't exactly stealthy), and the fact that even if they make it back somehow, everyone they know is dead or dying horrifically, and the likely chance of a decade-long nuclear winter with nothing growing... War is hell.

xattt 5y ago

They’re also a reminder of the hidden infrastructure and communications that will be unseen and unheard by the world but is at the ready to handle this contingency. You then consider that this infrastructure (ie the googles) has been duplicated by at least two other world superpowers, with each having had a slightly different variations on implementation which inherently reflects the values of the nation.