Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
It's an unimaginable scenario, some crazy Iranian or South Korean dictator decides to start World War III by sending one or a few thermo-nukes to hit Manhattan.
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Quite right. Your scenario is totally unimaginable and silly.
South Korea does not have nuclear weapons.
Iran does not have nuclear weapons either.
Just so you don't continue to embarrass yourself, you should know that thermonuclear is synonymous with fission-fusion, and it requires plutonium, which Iran does not have.
To produce plutonium, assuming you have a nuclear reactor conducive to plutonium production, you would enrich uranium to 3%-5% U235.
The IAEA report says Iran is enriching uranium to 20%, which is proof that Iran is not attempting to produce plutonium.
Raining on your parade...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bideshi
We have neutron bombs.
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No, you don't.
Your neutron weapons were removed from service and disassembled more than 20 years ago.
Personal knowledge (meaning I was there).
Even for the most naive novice, you should have been able to use deductive reasoning:
1] It is not possible to build a neutron warhead in excess of 15 kt.
2] The US produced a 1kt 8"/203 mm ERW (Neutron) AFAP and a 10 kt Lance ERW.
3] The 8"/203 mm ERW was never deployed. It remained in storage at Seneca Army Depot (near Romulus, New York) until all 550 warheads were transported to the PANTEX facility and disassembled in 1989.
4] The Lance ERW warhead was also in storage at Seneca Army Depot until 1986 when 56 warheads were to deployed to Germany under a Top Secret operation.
5] The Lance was subsequently withdrawn in 1990 and all 300+ warheads were transported to the PANTEX facility and disassemble.
6] The M5 Lance Main Missile Assembly has been removed from service and destroyed, as have all of the launchers.
The only country currently known to have neutron warheads is Russia, which has about 3,000 warheads in the 1 kt to 10 kt range for tube artillery and missile artillery.
It is now believed that China has neutron weapons, since the idiot Blow Job Bill on his
Ruin the World and Jeopardize the Lives of Every Man, Woman and Child World Tour™ gave China the "football" (and gave North Korea two plutonium producing nuclear reactors and gave Russia two Cray Super II computers).
The "football" is not the football the president carries around, it is a system of linear implosion. Linear implosion is how you miniaturize weapons.
How small can you go?
3.5 kg of plutonium in a canister with an external diameter of 6" (155 mm) weighing about 38 pounds with a nominal yield of about 0.03 kt (personal knowledge). Them babies were hot too, meaning when you picked them up, they were warm in your hands, even on a cold day (personal knowledge).
Enhancing radiation...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd714
Not necessarily, depending on the scenario. If the OP also includes radioactive explosives such as "dirty bombs" the death toll would actually be light, with perhaps panic taking more lives then the actualy explosion.
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No such thing as a "dirty bomb." Woe to the naive and ignorant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd714
Their are other low yield type nuclear weapons as well. Russia has or had nuclear "suitcase bombs", but they are designed to take out bridges and fortifications, not cities.
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Back-pack nukes, not suitcase bombs. They're also designed for cratering. The US removed theirs and dismantled them in 1986.
You do realize that armored vehicles cannot traverse a slope greater than 30° right?
Even Hitler knew that (hence the autobahns are elevated on berms with 30° slopes). Put a huge freaking crater in the ground, and you just stopped an armored column from advancing.
Back-packing...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by PullMyFinger
You are trying to appear reasonable but to most of us you just look bitter with an ax to grind. Seems you are the only one bringing your own personal politics to this discussion.
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No, a reasonable person would acknowledge that the OP scenario is silly and that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program. Even Leon Panetta said so.
Of course, long before he said so, I told you Iran had no nuclear weapons program and have repeatedly asked for evidence showing the technical, ordnance, missile, maintenance, security, storage, communication, transportation, support or administration infrastructure.
You already got suckered into a PSY-OPS warfare program by a bunch of retired military officers spewing propaganda and disinformation on the MSM.
Are you up for a rematch?
Being reasonable...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevxu
I think before North Korea or Iran would ever be capable of such an act, that there is another more likely atomic scenario.
Pakistan attacks India with its nuclear arsenal in an attempt to wipe it off the face of the earth, and the Indians retaliate.
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Not likely.
Look, this is so simple a 4th Grader can get it.
Does Pakistan have plutonium? No, but India does.
What does that tell you about their nuclear weapons?
Okay, let's take this approach: Which country (Pakistan or India) has thermonuclear weapons?
Not Pakistan. That requires plutonium, and Pakistan has none.
Since Pakistan has only uranium, what is the largest possible warhead Pakistan could possibly build in theory?
60 kt
In reality (not theory) what is the largest uranium warhead ever made?
40 kt (by the French). That is most unfortunate, because Pakistan no longer has any B-57F bombers, so Pakistan has no possible means to deliver a 40 kt uranium warhead (no, sorry, something that monstrous will not fit on a missile).
So, applying your vast knowledge of "things nuclear," describe Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
Well, that would be easy. All of Pakistan's nuclear warheads are in the 0.01 kt to 10 kt range. Pakistani F-16s could probably carry a 20 kt warhead.
Pakistan has mostly 8"/203 mm double-gun artillery rounds and some short range missile artillery in the 1 kt to 10 kt range.
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is defensive, not offensive. It is designed to prevent the Indian Army from rolling over Pakistani units in short order.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevxu
In the horror and chaos of this catastrophe, Israel takes the opportunity to zap Iran, or Iran attacks Israel, and a second nuclear holocaust is ignited.
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What video game is that? Because that isn't reality.
I do rather wish you would all grow brains and learn how to distinguish between an aircraft's combat radius and its range.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevxu
It would undoubtedly ignore the Pakistan/India event....
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And you base that on what? Certainly you aren't taking into consideration Kissinger's duplicity during the 1971 Pakistani-Indian War, where the
USS Enterprise was sent with Task Force 74.
Thanks to the idiot Kissinger, 1971 was the closest the world ever came to nuclear Armageddon.
Raining on parades...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
In the TV show Jericho, the 23 cities where nukes went off had a greater impact that if one city was nuked. The impact of a nuke attack would be as much psychological as physical. It would produce panic and paranoia about who was next.
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Um, okay, I'll accept that at face-value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
Interestingly enough, North Korea and Iran are blamed and nuked off the map in retaliation. It does not cause a world war. I think these two places were picked because if there are nations which wouldn't be missed it would be them since they have no allies.
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But Iran does have allies. Iran is part of a 5-nation mutual defense pact anchored by Russia (the other 3 countries are Central Asian States).
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
A series of localized nukes COULD be done by someone who didn't have long range capabilities, which is why there is a much more possible danger of smaller ground based bombs.
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Then that speaks more to North Korea, who, based on burn up time and operating time, produced about 60 kg of weapons grade plutonium, enough to produce about twelve 1 kt back-pack nukes.
Localizing...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by mofford
Now we are at a point where nuclear technology is not only out of the bag, but getting out of control and costing us plenty to keep a lid on.
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What about the Oxygen Bomb?
The fission of any atom produces 180 million electron volts of energy. Doesn't matter which atom: uranium, plutonium, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron, aluminum.
The difference between fissile material and non-fissile material, is that fissile material is self-sustaining.
Eventually the world will acquire the technology to produce sufficient energy to fission in any atom and maintain a cascading reaction that leads to the nuclear explosion.
I'm sure you'll be thrilled with that.
Letting the cat out of the bag...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by sky1949
I followed your post until the above statements. To the extent that you suggest that the USA actually used atomic (it has never used 'nuclear') weapons to "resolve their petty aspirations for global domination", you need to remember that the US was initially attacked by the country we defended against with atomic bombs; we were not seeking "global domination."
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That gets my vote for silliest comment of the year.
The US has used nuclear weapons, and you have been seeking global domination. That is most evident in your Geo-Political Strategy. You might want to educate yourself by reading white papers and such published by the the infamous Neo-Conservatives, who were formerly the Social Democrats who were formerly the Young People's Socialist League.
Start looking around 1974-1976. You'll probably have to go to a university library, but the main branch of your public library might have some documents.
Not so stupid as to confuse atomic and nuclear...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxCar Willie
jtur88, You are obviously anti American with your tone and retoric. IF you don't like this country. WHY do you remain here?
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Probably because he is trying to save your life, and the lives of other people in other countries. That's why I work to get the US out of Romania, before you turn our country into a freaking parking lot with your half-baked plans of global domination.
Didn't anyone ever explain to you the ultimate fate of bullies?
Toning with rhetoric....
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Memphis1979
But if it were a single bomb, we would need to investigate. Where did the uranium coke from? That can be determined by testing the radiation.
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No it can't. Stop reading idiot Tom Clancy novels.
The best you could do is rule out where it came from.
Investigating...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Falconman
wELL iSREAL HAS more THAN ENOUGH NUKES TO ELIMINATE both Russia and the Arabs except in the flurry Isreal too would be eliminated
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Using capital letters doesn't alter the fact that USrael, ooops, I mean Israel cannot hit Russian cities with nuclear weapons.
Not capitalizing...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
What is the purpose of this thread?
This entire war crap is really getting on my nerves,
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Ah, Neuling, the voice of reason. I don't know what the purpose of this thread is. The OP scenario is FUBAR.
And yeah, the whole war thing is getting kind of surreal.
Unfortunately, the long-term US Geo-Political Strategy calls for taking control of the eastern Russian republics.
To do that, the US has to control Central Asia, and to do that, the US needs control of Iran or Afghanistan, so that it can have air and ground corridors from the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean to Central Asia, and since the US has failed in Afghanistan and is seeking an exit strategy, I guess that leaves Iran.
Wondering...
Mircea