BUFFs doing the Original Mission

[kham]

Even if just in tests....

The number of shacks is notable, even with the B-53; here, have 9 megatons of instant sunshine land on your front porch, sonny....

[nachtjaeger]

Nice to see actual footage of a "laydown" nuke delivery. The B41 was designed for laydown delivery also- and was the equivalent of better than four B53s. The B41 was just stupid powerful. And we had 500 of those monsters.

[kham]

Yeah, but a B-41 stretches the survivability of the bomber; I wonder what the delay was for a laydown The tests with a PAIR of B-83s, makes you wonder a) what poor schlub is getting TWO of them and b) the fusing must have been interesting; both weapons would have to initiate within microseconds of each other, or the neutron flux of one would kill the other. The things you learn back in the day....

[nachtjaeger]

Just ran across this article. Apparently our entire bomber fleet is now 159 airframes; 76 BUFFs, 63 B-1s and 20 B-2s.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ageless-b52-bomber-20130819,0,6642110.story

Also, it appears that all of the TLAM-N Tomahawks were scrapped, along with all of the W80-0 warheads, so no more nuclear cruise missiles.

http://blogs.fas.org/security/2013/03/tomahawk/

[kham]

Yeah the "history is over" retard bunch of the 90s did not help matters; the ACM's were also disposed of. Nuclear capability for the B-52s and B-2s now is B61 and B83 gravity bombs. The older bombs are still part of the enduring stockpile, and could given time and work be reconstituted into operational condition. Only the BUFF could carry the older ones though, because of the dimensions.

Also, be aware the B-1s no longer have a nuclear capability, and have not had one for many years.

[nachtjaeger]

Where is Dale Brown when we need him? http://dalebrown.info/index02.htm There were 102 B-52Hs produced. We should pull the rest of the survivors out of the boneyard and convert them to real-world versions of Dale Brown's fictional EB-52 Megafortress.

And why, oh why, did we scrap all the compact modern nukes and keep bunkers full of obsolete nuclear gravity bombs?

Yeah the "history is over" retard bunch of the 90s did not help matters; the ACM's were also disposed of. Nuclear capability for the B-52s and B-2s now is B61 and B83 gravity bombs. The older bombs are still part of the enduring stockpile, and could given time and work be reconstituted into operational condition. Only the BUFF could carry the older ones though, because of the dimensions.

Also, be aware the B-1s no longer have a nuclear capability, and have not had one for many years.

[kham]

Because at the time, the defence department was run by a retarded bunch of morons who thought themselves the second coming of MacNamara and his GENIUS level intelligence. Convincing yourself is much easier than an opponent, since opponents deal in reality, and assholes only deal with their own mental -defects and retardations. Plus, self-delusion is much easier when you dont have any consequences to deal with, n'cest pas?

[nachtjaeger]

I once accused Rumsfeld of channeling the spirit of McNamara to advise him. Then I found out that McNamara was alive and well until July of 2009, so he was really just a phone call away.

Because at the time, the defence department was run by a retarded bunch of morons who thought themselves the second coming of MacNamara and his GENIUS level intelligence. Convincing yourself is much easier than an opponent, since opponents deal in reality, and assholes only deal with their own mental -defects and retardations. Plus, self-delusion is much easier when you dont have any consequences to deal with, n'cest pas?

[Duncan Edwards]

And why, oh why, did we scrap all the compact modern nukes and keep bunkers full of obsolete nuclear gravity bombs?

Small bombs are more likely to be used = Bad.

Small bombs are more likely to be misused = Bad.

Small bombs are more likely to get lost or stolen = Bad.

Small bombs are more expensive to produce, maintain, secure, and have nastier after effects than the smart bombs that replaced them.

Small bombs were great when you had to deny a target you couldn't hit or reach any other way. Now you fly a single B-2 all the way from Missouri and hit 32 targets with 32 bombs and deny an airfield etc.

Compact nukes became more trouble than they were worth in the modern era. An expensive tool that never got used and wouldn't be used. We have certainly made tremendous use of what replaced them.

[kham]

Just to clarify, the B61 is relatively compact as gravity bombs go; the 'small' part might be its dimensions (3.56m long x 33cm diameter, weight 320kg) and has a variety of mods and yields from low kiloton all the way up to 340 kt. Small is a very relative term. Likewise for the B83, from low kt to maximum yield of 1.2 Mt (3.7m x 46cm, 1100kg)

One thing that should be remembered for Kim Dong Small, and all the other snackbars flailing about trying to get the bomb: it is very likely ,in fact, almost CERTAIN -- that they dont have it yet. Why? Because when you light off your first gadget , it will be a lot like Trinity. Which is to say, around 20 kt. Smaller, sub-kt yields such as the NKs popcorn farts, are either faked (high probability) or fizzles (shitty design or host of problems, but more likely fakes). To make a very small nuclear explosion requires extremely advanced physics and engineering knowledge. Major powers spent 5 decades getting that right. The media never reads anything...