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"How are nuclear missiles timed to explode? Does the nuke detonate even if the missile lands in the wrong spot? I'm imagining- yes."

Okay, I'm seeing more and more on this "nuclear missile" theory. Let's clarify some points. Is it "possible" that AQ has a nuke? Sure. It may even be likely. But a nuclear missile would take one of two forms:

#1 A low flying subsonic "cruise missile" fired from a platform such as a ship or submarine. Such a weapon could have a range of hundreds of miles and be targeted with incredible precision. Not much chance of a "wrong address," in any case! Size: A cruise missile would be considered a "Theatre Weapon" and have a limited size, probably in the kiloton range. Anything from 5-20 kilotons. Anything smaller is not worth the effort to put it in a cruise missile package.

Theatre weapons also cover nuclear tipped torpedoes and nuclear artillery rounds fired from a towed or self propelled artillery piece. These are third and fourth generation devices. They are NOT crude "Gee I sure hope this works!" kinds of things. These are always tightly controlled and I'm not even sure the WARSAW PACT nations ever even had them. This is what kept western Europe free from soviet domination for several decades. The USSR knew that in order to successfully invade Europe, they would have to mass equipment and manpower in a five to one ratio. That's a lot of men and tanks packed into a small area like the Fulda Gap in West Germany. Tailor made for a Theatre sized nuke fired from a 155mm artillery piece. Limited blast and limited radiation.

#2 The InterContinental Ballistic Missile. This launches from a submarine or land based site. It requires enourmous resources to launch and track and target. It requires computer control at least in the initial launch. It is usually a MIRV (multiple warhead re-entry vehicle) that will achieve a low orbit trajectory. It will be trackable to the launch point. Finally the size: ICBM's are almost always Hydrogen Bombs and are measured in the MEGA-ton. That's per MILLION TONS of TNT explosive power. Let's put it this way: Know how big a railroad car is? Okay, a 25 megaton warhead will take a train moving at 50mph past a fixed point, EIGHT HOURS to pass that point. The average ICBM will have between six and ten of these MIRV warheads, each will be around 25 megatons. In each case, the explosion alone will be somewhere in the area of 30 miles in diameter. That is just the blast itself. That doesn't include the overpressure area and it ceretainly does not include the fallout or the effective downwind drift.

I'm taking this data from my nbc school notes. Those notes are declassified and are twenty two years old. Think capabilities may have been upgraded in the meantime? Oh and one more thing: The United States of America has thousands of these missiles protecting us 24/7. So does the former USSR. The difference? Ours are guaranteed to fire and to hit their assigned targets. The Sov missiles are probably "dead" in their silos. These weapons require constant maintenance and software updates.

My point: AQ does not have ICBM capability or they would have used that instead of aircraft on 911. Doubtful, well nigh impossible that they are in a Hydrogen arena measured in terms of megatonnage. No "CITY BUSTING" missiles.

If they use a nuke, it will be a small kiloton type device (still of devasting power and emp damage PLUS radiation hazzard). It will have to be "emplaced" and delivered via low tech means. it will be either a timed or command (suicide) detonation. It will probably NOT be something that has to be "launched."