The Flying Crowbar [Project Pluto: nastiest weapon ever conceived?]

Air & Space Magazine ^ | April/May 1990 | Gregg Herken

[Doomonyou]

Gives new meaning to the name "Silver Bullet."

[Bender2]

Bump for later read...

[Billthedrill]

Even before it began dropping bombs on our enemies Pluto would have deafened, flattened, and irradiated our friends.

Some people have no sense of humor whatever.

A fun article but filled with anachronisms. We didn't have TERCOM radar in 1957.

[kaktuskid]

There was a plan to use nuclear weapons to excavate for I-40 in Arizona and California

[GaltMeister]

"Stay on the bomb run boys! I'll git the doors open if it hairlips ever'body on Bear Creek!"

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

If someone were indeed serious about wanting to revive Pluto, he would probably find some ready recruits at Livermore. But not many. What was once the weapon from hell now seems an idea best left dead and buried.

[6ppc]

I thought "flying crowbars" was Project Thor...never heard of this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

[Tennessee_Bob]

I'll git the doors open if it hairlips ever'body on Bear Creek!"

Which is kind of ironic, considering that the Y-12 Weapons Plant is on Bear Creek Road here in Oak Ridge.

[TalonDJ]

A nuclear-powered bomber never got off the runway after the Air Force started advertising for pilots past child-rearing age.

Not entirely accurate. The bomber was canceled because the cost benefit analysis was unfavorable. Nuclear power bombers were on the drawing board that could have flown around the world without stopping several times. But what is the point of that? Normal bombers could already fly to the target and back at much lower cost per flight hour. The only useful roll for a plane that could fly for days or even weeks on end would have been as an orbiting nuclear platform. Something like a flying ballistic missile sub only loaded with nuclear cruise missiles. Except that compared to a sub it would have been easy to track and shoot down as soon as war started. Subs were cheaper for the same strategic role and could linger much longer undetected. THAT was what killed the atomic airplanes. There was simply no use for them. And this was a SAFE design. It was a closed nuclear system that did not leak radiation.