Posted on 08/12/2019 6:19:25 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Unfortunately, there are far too many people here on FG that *do*, you can see some of them upthread here.
As you may recall its a line from a movie.
They also have the VA-111 Shkval torpedo ...
Yes, the same that sank the Kursk.
Wouldn’t be so fast to laugh at the Russians. They didn’t let their kids skip STEM and have lots of scientists. We got a lot of community organizers and gender studies grads instead and are having to import brains from elsewhere.
Sadly very true.
And never underestimate your enemy.
“On July 1, 1964, seven years and six months after it was started, “Project Pluto” was canceled.”
Lasted longer than just about any other Cold War winning system under JFK/McNamara. Incredible that we had to drag the Cold War out for an extra 25 years because we made one stupid choice in the 1960 election...and it’s STILL not over, as Russia is showing.
But the way, did Russia check with us before working on that new system - like I’m sure we checked with them, throughout the Cold War.
“Gee why would a pharmacy have stockpiles of iodine pills?”
Because nuclear spills do happen.
By the way, my supply is getting a bit old, time to order some new ones!
Kursk was sunk by an aged and leaking VA-111, yes - but it wasn’t an inherent design flaw of the torpedo. The VA-111 is available on the world arms market and is known to be a pretty reliable design if properly maintained and inspected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_submarine_disaster#Secret_report
#22. Re a list of Soviets killed in “accidents” since 1945. Try the “X-Files”.
They didn’t say iodine pills, just iodine. My local pharmacy has plenty of it liquid and pill form. Liquid is for wound care and thyroid problems.
If my math is correct a 100kg tungsten rod 1m long would be 8.1cm in diameter. Tungsten has roughly the same density as gold, 19.3g/cm3.
The thing is it’s not always in space. It’s orbit changes, too. Not that it can’t be spotted, but it’s a needle in a haystack.
https://www.livescience.com/62379-skywatcher-spotted-x-37b-spy-plane.html
“Minimum size for a workable RFG projectile is roughly “telephone pole”
Never hear that before.
And the bird isn’t tiny:
The X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle is a reusable robotic spaceplane. It is an approximately 120%-scale derivative of the Boeing X-40,[5][21] measuring over 29 feet (8.8 m) in length, and features two angled tail fins.
Interesting reading at your link.
“Cause Faulty weld on a 65–76 “Kit” practice torpedo, leading to an explosion of high-test peroxide and secondary detonation of 5 to 7 torpedo warheads”
NOT trolling, simply stating.
In the last few years my ‘circle of trust’ has undergone major compression. So many quality fakes.So many nudges.
The best propaganda is mostly true.
My career Navy father often said, “Believe only half of what you see, none of what you hear”.
Used to think that was a bit much.
Now, looks like the Oldman was correct.
Dude, it’s so needle in a haystack that when it’s up, it *can’t* be hidden and appears on civilian space tracker sites and can be easily located. http://stuffin.space/
The general accepted size for an RFG penetrator is about *20 tons* of tungsten in a long cylindrical format, about 12”x20’. Links are upthread. Anything less ablates off to uselessness in reentry.
From what I have read, while everyone agrees the torpedo fuel leaked from a weld, not all agree that the weld was just inherently defective or if the weld popped due to mishandling or poor maintenance. It does not seem to have been a flaw in the overall design, though.
Not like we haven’t had our own issues that way lately either.
As for personal quality experiences, this era does seem to have problems with quality disappearing. I prefer the Reagan solution - trust, but verify.
Drag and heat generation at the leading structure can be ameliorated through application of plasma manipulation to guide and/or extract energy at that location. Further, an effective side thrust can be generated to allow useful maneuvering beyond following a mere ballistic reentry path.
http://ayuba.fr/pdf/ajax/bruno1998.pdf
Which means your RFG projectile just got ridiculously expensive as it now has to be shaped like a transatmospheric craft and carry active cooling systems, etc.
What is the definition of expensive for the ability to destroy a bunker more than 600 feet underground, one constructed with a highly advanced concrete formulation?
We could just resort to the old-school surface detonation of a very large yield device. Those will do the job, but pose long term hazards down-wind.
One that costs more to get into position and maintain than several bunker buster nukes. The price of the tungsten needed to make the RFG penetrator *and* the cost to lift it to orbit is already bad enough. Either way, it’s *still* going to get seen in orbit and all the way down with even civilian-sector sensors even with waverider tech.
There is no stealth in space.
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