[NothingMan]

During the Cold War, these things were reportedly prepositioned (Mitrokhin). The question is how long can they sit dormant. They were placed in secluded areas. Probably not only to escape detection but to facilitate periodic maintenance.

But the raw material was/is the "core" problem.

[milkncookies]

See my post #1307. There seems to be general consensus that the weapons, if not properly cared for, will not be operative. However, there is an admission that in the end, no one really knows for sure. The linked article is a good and informative read. First time I've stumbled acroos plutonium implosion devices.

[NothingMan]

It is important to note that many or most of the UBL and nuclear images referenced on these threads over the past few months have been juxtaposed with water . . . .

from the 1998 Rumsfeld Commission Report . . .



NIE 95-19 examined the worldwide proliferation of cruise missiles because
of the possibility of their being launched from forward-based ships off the
coast of the United States. It concluded that by 2005, hostile adversaries
of the United States will probably acquire land-attack cruise missiles for
regional missions. The NIE further judged that an attack by cruise missiles
launched from ships off the US coast was technically feasible, but
unlikely. 3

The Gates Panel believed that while the Intelligence Community had made a
strong case for why the United States is unlikely to face an ICBM threat
from a developing nation before 2010, it also concluded that not nearly
enough attention was being devoted to the possibility that land-attack
cruise missiles could be launched from ships within several hundred
kilometers of US territory. 4 . . . .



In addition to militarily significant accuracy in delivery, land-attack
cruise missiles offer other compelling operational advantages when compared
to existing and prospective ballistic missiles. Cruise missiles can be
placed in canisters, making them fairly easy to maintain and operate in
harsh environments. Their relatively compact size permits more flexible
launch options, more mobility for ground-launched versions, and a smaller
logistics burden, which could make them even less susceptible to
counterforce targeting than Iraqi Scuds were during Operation Desert Storm.
Moreover, cruise missiles need not be stabilized at their launch points and
can be launched from commercial ships and aircraft, as well as from ground
launchers. Perhaps most important of all, the cruise missile's aerodynamic
stability makes it an inherently easier and cheaper platform from which to
deliver and disperse chemical and biological agents. The lethal area for a
given quantity of biological agent delivered by a cruise missile can be at
least ten times greater than that delivered by a ballistic missile. . . .


The most direct route to transforming an ASCM into a much
longer-range land-attack missile (500 to 700 km) would be to use the
Chinese turbojet powered HY-4 Silkworm , which China currently offers for
export. Earlier Silkworm versions, the widely proliferated HY-1 and HY-2,
could also be converted, but their liquid-fueled engines would have to be
replaced with a suitable turbojet engine like the one in China's HY-4 ASCM.
There are other unrestricted turbojet engines available from Canadian,
European, Japanese, and US manufacturers of civilian and military aircraft.

A converted Silkworm , with a length of between 7.4 and just under 9 meters
(depending on the number of additional fuel plugs for range extension), can
readily fit inside a standard 12-meter shipping container. Thousands of
commercial container ships comprise the international fleet. US ports alone
handle over 13 million containers annually.



"loose lips sink ships"