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Subject: Neutron Bomb
reefdiver    3/20/2006 5:43:12 PM
With there being renewed talk of nukes, I'm surprised no one has resurrected the neuton bomb (retired by Bush I?). Anyone heard anything about activity in that area?
 
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PARATROOP    RE:Neutron Bomb   3/20/2006 10:14:23 PM
what do you mean 'resurrection'??
 
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reefdiver    RE:Neutron Bomb   3/21/2006 11:12:35 AM
I'd understood that Bush Sr. had the neutron bombs scrapped?
 
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displacedjim    RE:Neutron Bomb   3/21/2006 1:08:17 PM
Who says any were even built? Displacedjim
 
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reefdiver    RE:Neutron Bomb - Displacedjim   3/21/2006 10:26:04 PM
Vaporware? Interesting idea for a bit of bluff. The "inventor" appears to claim they were however built and then destroyed by Bush Sr. at the recommendation of Powell. Of course he also appears to claim Bush gave the technology to China who he claims now have a bunch of them... Hopefully we won't even get started on the Russians and "red mercury".
 
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TrustButVerify    RE:Neutron Bomb - vaporware?   4/27/2006 9:50:53 PM
I doubt it. I've read a dozen-odd books which touched on the topic of enhanced radiation weapons in one way or another. IANNP*, but I don't think it was a bluff- google for W-70 warhead and see what you find. A point I would like to make which is tangential to the whole matter- the Soviets mounted an entire "peace offensive" to prevent deployment of W-70s to NATO. A few years later they had caught up and built Enhanced Radiation warheads of their own, and didn't kick so much. If it was vaporware, the USSR fell for it in such a huge way that they were to terrified to admit it was a hoax when they finally tumbled to it. So terrified, they pretended to have one of their own! More to the point of the thread, I don't forsee any particular situations coming up in which a neutron bomb would be preferable to an ol' fashioned tactical nuke. The possible applications are against massed armor or as an antimissile warhead- in both cases conventional options exist which are infinitely preferable. Right now the talk is of using small B61-type warheads against hardened facilities; we've got the WCMD CBU-105 to take care of massed armor and neither Iran nor North Korea would bother with ballistic missiles when shipping containers are so much cheaper. *I Ain't No Nuclear Physicist
 
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