A aviation & planes forum. AviationBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » AviationBanter forum » rec.aviation newsgroups » Military Aviation
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

About when did a US/CCCP war become suicidal?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #11  
Old February 28th 04, 12:25 AM
Howard Berkowitz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article , Owe Jessen
wrote:

Am Fri, 27 Feb 2004 03:15:43 GMT, schrieb Fred J. McCall
:

Owe Jessen wrote:

:Could you give in some applications for the SADM? ISTR from childhood
80s) that there were plans to destroy a lot of bridges and so on with
:atomic bombs. Why was it thought necessary to use those instead of
:conventional explosives? Aside from the fact that using nuclear
:weopons just for the fun in a friendly country might not be overly
opular there.

Because wiring a modern bridge with sufficient explosives to bring it
down is not a quick job. Failure to manage this cost the Germans
dearly in WWII.

Either we wire them up and leave them that way in peacetime (not real
safe) or you take them down fast with nukes in wartime.


I guess the folks living next to the bridges were thrilled. Or was the
plan to use it only, if nuclear weapons were allready being used?


It probably would have been used only after the nuclear threshold had
been crossed, but that might not mean much to the people near the
bridge. The smaller ADMs were definitely in the subkiloton range.
Conventional bombing before precision-guided weapons, even with such
advanced things as Barnes Wallace's earthquake bombs, still needed
substantial subkiloton yields.

If the high explosive, in the multi-ton range, were prepositioned in the
bridge, even without primers, is that going to comfort the nearby
residents?

The reality is that it takes a substantial explosive force to take down
a major bridge or mountain road cut.
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2025 AviationBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.