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W54
- fdav 2y agoDidn't know the mini nuke in Fallout was actually real: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mini_nuke https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mini_nuke
- Oarch 2y agoThat paratrooper image is very Doctor Strangelovian
- jcgrillo 2y agoImagine being that guy though, so few humans will ever have such an awesome portrait
- jasomill 2y agoAs is the Fulton Recovery System used to airlift enemy soldiers (and friendly animals) in Metal Gear Solid V: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery...
- Der_Einzige 2y agoGiven the number of broken arrow incidents, it’s remarkable that a random city hasn’t been terrorist nuked or at least dirty bombed yet. Obama made a big deal about warning the world about the risks of nuclear proliferation. He told us that al Queda and ISIS have tried to acquire weapons of mass destruction including nuclear. I literally live in fear that one day I’ll wake up to find that some big city is just gone and that the world is about to go through some real authoritarian shit in the wake of it. Imagine Chicago getting nuked from some terrorists and then no one takes responsibility right after. Trump would start WW3. I’ve had the idea to write a book about this scenario (or ideally a mod for a better version of hoi4) called “Good Morning America” about the nation responding to this exact scenario.
- jcgrillo 2y agoWe're going to run the experiment sometime. The equilibrium has miraculously held since 1945 but it's not stable, and someday there will be a nuclear exchange. There's no way to put the genie back in the bottle.
- time0ut 2y agoThat is similar to the premise of the TV show Jericho [0]. Not a great show, but its worth a watch if you like that sort of thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(2006_TV_series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(2006_TV_series)
- kijin 2y agoIt will take a much bigger nuke than a backpack to make a big city "just gone" in the modern world. Every now and then, ships full of explosive material blow up in a coastal city, with yields much larger than what a small nuke like W54 can produce. Texas City. Tianjin. Beirut. They were tragic accidents with many casualties, but nowhere near strong enough to wipe a big city off the map. Reinforced concrete is incredibly tough. There's an old building in Hiroshima that survived only 150 yards from ground zero. WW2-style firebombing is much more effective at rm -rf'ing cities than most nukes we have today. Whether or not the man at the top will take the explosion as an opportunity to attack another country, now that's a much more serious concern.
- lokimedes 2y agoThe effort by the nuclear nations to hunt down these weapons is likely significant. As it their efforts to stop proliferation in general. It is also something the US, Russia and everyone else can agree on. Just consider the number of Iranian physicists that have driven off the road under tragic circumstances… How would non-state actors be hunted, no doubt intensively.
- openasocket 2y agoOne saving grace is that nukes do have a shelf life. They require regular maintenance too. The radioactive core of plutonium or uranium can last for a while, but the various components will degrade. I heard once on the Arms Control Wonk podcast that this could be on the order of like 10 years. Someone could still salvage that to make a dirty bomb, of course, but there’s plenty of easier ways to make a dirty bomb from other radioactive materials
- mikewarot 2y agoSomething like this[1] might come in handy for tracking one of those down, should it become lost somewhere. Alternatively, if you just want to look for a radiological signal, you could use one of these[2]. [1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US11892419B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US11892419B2/en [2] https://www.caen.it/products/gamon-drone/ https://www.caen.it/products/gamon-drone/
- metadat 2y agoSince the range of the W54 fired from a recoilless gun is only a mile or two, what does the operator who personally performed the firing do afterwards? Start driving away at a high rate of speed? How can I find out the degree and risk of radioactive fallout from a warhead equivalent to 2 - 10,000 tons of TNT? Maybe don't fire on a windy day from downwind..
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- imglorp 2y agohttps://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap At 1kt (max for the W54?) most of the effects are under 1 km: eg the radiation radius is only 0.84 km. Looks like if you shoot 1 mile away up wind, take cover from the flash, and then run away upwind you'd be fine with some hearing protection.
- metadat 2y agoSorry to be a pedant, and I also want to confirm my understanding is correct (yes, I've attempted checking definitions, but.. :) In this case I think firing the device upwind would be ill-advised, as then the fallout will be blowing back to you. Edit: thank you for the correction @erikerikson! Noted, and best wishes!
- erikerikson 2y agoYou seem to have reversed the terms. Being upwind means the wind is blowing away from you towards your target and proceeds past your target further away from you.
- imglorp 2y agoParent is right too, I mixed up one of them. I should have said: shoot toward s downwind and run away towards upwind.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- woodrowbarlow 2y agothat photo of a paratrooper diving with one of these between their legs has dr. strangelove energy.
- mrbluecoat 2y agoAnd who exactly signs up to jump out of a plane with a nuclear bomb strapped to them?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]