Could a nuclear bomb be delivered and detonated via a truck or boat?
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Delivered? Unlikely.
Detonated? Absolutely.
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Considering that you only need the warhead: absolutely.
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Yes, they even put nukes in backpacks
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Easily. That is one reason why ports and other national entry points have systems in place to detect that. Of course there is nothing to stop a bad actor from reaching the border or coast with a weapon and setting it off.
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Easily. That is one reason why ports and other national entry points have systems in place to detect that. Of course there is nothing to stop a bad actor from reaching the border or coast with a weapon and setting it off.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Yup, as a foreign national, I had to jump through a myriad of hoops to get a TWIC which enables me to enter and exit US ports freely without someone escorting me around. Fun fact: A TWIC allows even foreigners to register as a known traveler and TSA pre-screening, allowing me to skip a lot of the hassle when flying in the US.
Hell, getting a TWIC was the only reason why I bothered with getting an actual US work visa. I now hold B1, B2, C1/D, and it was all for the TWIC. If it wasn't for that, I'd be fine just going on a tourist visa.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote last edited by [email protected]
On May 25, 1953 the Grable test under Operation Upshot Knothole fired the W9 nuclear artillery shell over 6 miles downrange at Frenchman's Flat detonating at 15 kilotons. The artillery shell weighed roughly 803 lbs. This was 1950's technology that could still fit in the back of a pickup truck and level a city. I'm sure they're a lot lighter and a lot more powerful today. So, yes. If we could do it in '53 we could definitely do it today, but with orders of magnitude more destructive force and likely lighter weight.
Edit: I did some more digging. For instance, the W88 warhead aboard MIRV's on nuclear subs today have an explosive force of 475 kilotons with a mean average weight of 400 lbs for comparison. Though, most of that weight is probably shielding for reentry, so you could probably cut it back significantly if you're just putting it in a car trunk.
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Fat Man and Little Boy would fit in a small Uhaul... but both could fit in a big one together.
The test nukes were the size of one of those county fair huge pumpkins
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I'll add to what other people are saying with a caveat.
Detonating a Nuke at ground level significantly reduces it's effectiveness and range. It's still going to be bad, but it won't be city levelling bad. A couple of miles at best for the worst explosion/fire damage, even if it's stronger than Fat Man.
There's a reason why the two bombs dropped on Japan were detonated at 500-600 meters(1600-1900 feet) above the ground.
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Given that they got it down to a bazooka, yeah.
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Easily. That is one reason why ports and other national entry points have systems in place to detect that. Of course there is nothing to stop a bad actor from reaching the border or coast with a weapon and setting it off.
I am curious now on how much of it is about being worried about nuclear bomb, and how much is about people either knowingly importing illegally radioactive materials or worker forgetting that the big orange box is actually radioactive materials (believe me, it's way more common than it seems, especially with low activity parts)
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No. If it was that easy, a significant City would've been nuked by terrorists by then.
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I am curious now on how much of it is about being worried about nuclear bomb, and how much is about people either knowingly importing illegally radioactive materials or worker forgetting that the big orange box is actually radioactive materials (believe me, it's way more common than it seems, especially with low activity parts)
A little from column A, and a little from column B, I would imagine.
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I'll add to what other people are saying with a caveat.
Detonating a Nuke at ground level significantly reduces it's effectiveness and range. It's still going to be bad, but it won't be city levelling bad. A couple of miles at best for the worst explosion/fire damage, even if it's stronger than Fat Man.
There's a reason why the two bombs dropped on Japan were detonated at 500-600 meters(1600-1900 feet) above the ground.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Doesn't the ground just absorb about half of the energy? (And become nasty fallout)
Fat Man was tiny by later standards. The B41, which was actually deployed, was three orders of magnitude more powerful. Sizes have come down again since delivery got really accurate, but the workhorse B61 can be dialed to somewhere from 10 to 20 times Fat Man's yield.
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No. If it was that easy, a significant City would've been nuked by terrorists by then.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I mean, getting a bomb in the first place is hard as hell. Al Qaeda literally just got scammed until they gave up. It's a major project for largish states, even.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote last edited by [email protected]
Yes. Why not? They're small enough.
Ports and the like do have radiation sensors to try and combat any such thing. I don't know how effective or widespread they are exactly, though, and you'd think if you have the resources to get a nuke just crossing in somewhere else wouldn't be hard.
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Doesn't the ground just absorb about half of the energy? (And become nasty fallout)
Fat Man was tiny by later standards. The B41, which was actually deployed, was three orders of magnitude more powerful. Sizes have come down again since delivery got really accurate, but the workhorse B61 can be dialed to somewhere from 10 to 20 times Fat Man's yield.
It absorbs a lot, and it channels a lot of the blast up.
Yes, but also its not easy to smuggle a large bomb either.
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Yes, but at this point it would be cheaper and quicker to have spacex fly to orbit, capture a 5 ton rock and drop it on a city.
There's a reason Iran has been 'weeks' from making a bomb for decades now.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote last edited by [email protected]
yes, have you played RA2 before, believe one of the soviet factions used a nuclear bomb truck as a unit(you amass a large number of them and use iron curtain or chronosphere), i assume thats also IRL too, in different version. the yield wouldnt be very high, compared warheads, or even bombs though.
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This is something that USA has discussed and there may be radiation sensors installed in and around major cities to prevent this.
i assume for a truck you can shield the radiation with lead walls, or insulating materials.
