Re: Greetings and Nuclear Weapons.
Graeme Lennon (graeme@balefire.net)
Fri, 12 Nov 1999 16:41:31 -0500 (EST)
Hey Jerry. :)
The direct-hit situation was never in doubt, we were primarily discussing
soft-kill potential. If you could ask your friend what kind of distance
ranges he is talking about for EMP and rad effects, that would be
interesting.
If it's anything less than 50-100 klicks, then they're not really
relevant, I think.
> 1.0: Self Introduction
>
> Name: Jerry Yen
> Nick: Momopi, Momoko
> Association: Group Hooseki
> URL: http://anime.jyu.fi/greyhawk/hooseki/
> LoGH Project involvement: Hack transation of Silver Valley #1-3.
> Preference: Mahoushoujo, shoujo, bishonen, space opera.
> Dream: Imperial battleships in LoGH transform into giant robots, Imperial
> Admirals are 16 year old idol singers.
>
> 2.0: Nuclear weapons
>
> There was a discussion on the usage of nuclear weapons in space, how it
> differs from being used on a planet, etc. back in late October from Shrike
> (Gereme) and others.
>
> This is a late contribution to the above mentioned discussion. The
> information provided are from a friend who builds nuclear weapons in his
> spare time, in an unspecified foreign country.
>
> 2.1: Atmosphereic detonation
>
> Nuclear explosion within the atmosphere have 2 major cause of immediate
> damage:
>
> a. Radiation blast, a burst of gamma/x-rays and neutrons. This will
> vaporize everything close enough to impact point. Further out, it vaporises
> surfaces, causes fires, make paint on cars dissapear, etc.
>
> Given sufficient shielding and some distance, the radiation blast won't do
> as much (physical property) damage. However:
>
> b. The shock wave produced by the blast will kill you, if the radiation
> didn't do the job.
>
> The US military conducted a test decades ago named "Gravel". 2 identical
> sites were setup with trees, houses, military vehicles, etc.
>
> Site one had several 100kt bombs exploding via air-burst above target range.
> The result shows that, target damage beyond 1 mile distance was limited.
> Armored vehicles placed several hundred yards away actually didn't sustain
> much damage.
>
> Site two was bombed by a shell warhead, fired from a cannon, with much lower
> yield (verus site one). The shell exploded at ground level. The resulting
> shock wave sliced through buildings like ginzu knifes through tomatoes and
> flung armored vehicles like match boxes.
>
> Following the shock wave, there would be a fire storm in immediate area,
> sucking up all the available oxygen. So, if you survived the radiation and
> shock wave somehow, you'd still suffocate to death.
>
> 2.2: Detonation in outer space
>
> a. Radiation blast in space is still effective, targets within close
> proximity will be vaporized. Further out, surface of other targets will be
> damaged, and so on.
>
> b. Shock wave effect would be very limited (comparred to shock wave on a
> planet's surface), but, it'd still damage targets that are very close.
>
> c. The electromagnetic pulse from the blast (em pulse) in outer space will
> destroy electronics on space ships over a very wide area.
>
> In the 1960's, the US detonated several nukes in orbit ("high altitude
> tests"), and found that the em pulse knocked out communication, caused black
> outs (The backouts were caused by channeling fast electrons to van allen
> belts), etc.
>
> It was thought, at the time, that if you can detonate nukes in "high
> altitude", it would destroy the electronics of incoming Soviet attack.
> Nevermind irradiating your atomsphere...
>
> d. If you hit a ship with a nuclear "torpedo" or missile in space, and the
> warhead detonates upon impact, the ship will be gone for obvious reasons.
>
> __________________________________________________
> FREE Email for ALL! Sign up at http://www.mail.com
>
>
--
Graeme Lennon -=- graeme@balefire.net -=- Montreal, Canada
... deadening the flow of relentless biography ...
