Comments on: Yet another atomic detonation film for you

By: dean

dean — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:25:56 +0000

Wasn’t the idea behind the first generation of anti-missile missiles (nike? system) developed around the idea that the warheads of the “antis” would be small nukes? The idea was that they didn’t actually need to hit the incoming warheads, just detonate near them? The idea went to pot, IIRC, when
*People decided the idea of defending against nuclear attack by detonating our own nukes above us was a bit stupid
* At the time they were developed ICBMs carried one warhead. MIRVs screwed up everything

Final question: Did any of you find the narrator’s voice to be a lot creepy, especially just after detonation?

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:30:58 +0000

Thanks scidogs. Suddenly the computer game “Scorched Earth” doesn’t seem so funny. I wonder if any of these weapons were publicized in that era?

Wow – a nuke with the explosive yield of 2 daisy cutters and a toxicity that makes Agent Orange look timid.

By: scidogs

scidogs — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:20:47 +0000

there were A bombs so small they were fired off a jeep with a recoilless rifle,the Davy Crockett .see it in action on Youtube.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:55:16 +0000

OK, so it’s more like <6km rather than 4km (the bomb's height above ground was ~18500ft, not 10000 as written up on the website) but it's still a really stupid idea to be anywhere near a nuclear blast.

Imagine if anyone actually used these air-air missiles in combat. Aside from totally screwing up radio communications for the duration of the battles, that'd be one hell of a toxic dogfight.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:42:31 +0000

I didn’t realize there were bombs with such a small yield. All the same, there’s no way in hell I’m volunteering to stand <4km away from the point of detonation.