Cool. I'm glad you were in the military during the cold war, and had access to the actual figures of weapons systems, yields and were a Subject Matter Expert on Bomb Damage Assessment, tactical and strategic targeting, and nuclear release. It all makes sense now. Oh, and whatever you do, don't look around on the web, (it took me all of 30 seconds) and look at Nuclear Weapons Yields. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_yield) If you look at the force related to the size of the fireball, and KT Yield ratings, you'll note that these weapons were FAR larger than the tiny weapons deployed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But hey, you believe what you want, and ignore the facts... I guess it's all good... Of course, you could also forget that CURRENTLY the United States has the following Nuclear Weapons: 1. Land Based ICBMs
US Air Force currently operates just over 500 ICBMs at around 15 missile complexes located primarily in the northern Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas. These are all of the Minuteman III ICBM variants. To comply with the START II most US multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, have been eliminated and replaced with single warhead missiles. However, since the abandonment of the START II treaty, the U.S. is said to be considering retaining 800 warheads on 500 missiles. 2 Sea-based ICBMs
The US Navy currently has 12 SSBN Ohio-class submarines deployed. Each submarine is equipped with a complement of 24 Trident II missiles. (Trident IID Missiles, carrying 5x300KT Highly Accurate MIRV Warheads x 24 tubes, x 12 SSBN's = 1440 Warheads or 432MT) In addition approximately 12 U.S. attack submarines are equipped to launch, but do not currently carry, nuclear Tomahawk missiles. Sea-launch weapons make up the majority of weapons declared under START II rules. The U.S. keeps its 320 Tomahawk missiles at Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia. 3 Additional weapons
In addition to this the US armed forces can also deploy tactical smaller nuclear weapons either through cruise missiles or with conventional fighter-bombers. The U.S. maintains about 850 nuclear gravity bombs today. Some 480 of these bombs are deployed at eight airbases in six European NATO countries. This isn't the COLD WAR, this is TODAY. Approximate Grand Total? Strategic ICBMs ~ 800 Warheads (Yield 300-500Kt ea.)
Sea-Based ICBMs ~ 1440 Warheads (Yield 300Kt ea.) [SSBNs]
~ 144 Warheads (Yield 200Kt ea.) [Fast Attack]
Additional Weapons ~ 800 bombs ~ (Yields selectable as follows: 0.3, 1.5, 5, 10, 45, 60, 60, 80, 170, and 340 kilotons) Total? ~ 3,184 Warheads (lowest total yield:640,240 Kilotons, highest possbile yield: 1,072,000 Kilotons, Avg yield per warhead: 538 Kilotons) Just for your edification, the two weapons that have been deployed in wartime (Little Boy - Hiroshima, and Fat Man - Nagasaki, were 15, and 21 Kilotons respectively). So I guess I'm wrong... . RE: AM - Gore warns on climate change |
