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To: Gadsden1st
I would like to know the actual results of a neutron bomb. Now you got me interested. We developed the W-63 through W-66's in the early to late Sixties. 70 W-65's produced around '75, retired in '85. The W-79 artillery shells could be configured as either a conventional fission bomb or as a neutron bomb (enhanced radiation weapon in military terms). These W-79 were supposedly retired in '92. The W-82 dual-capable shells were also supposedly cancelled.

The Cox Report lists the seven types of nuclear designs the Chinese stole from us. Included is the W-70, a weapon that could be deployed in four configurations: Mods 0, 1 and 2 were small fission nukes of 1-100 kilotons. As of '97, the Mod 3 bombs have never been declared retired. There are 380 of these. They can be deployed on Lance SSM missiles. The W-70 neutron bomb has a yield of 1 kiloton. By comparison, Hiroshima was 16 kilotons and it appears that the Mk-III was the one used on Nagasaki and yielded 18 kilotons. Naturally, you could probably reduce damage from a W-70 neutron bomb by airbursting it to cause less damage and widen the circle of destruction further.

So, apparently, if we've got 'em and haven't salvaged their tritium or let them fall into unusable condition, these are our neutron bombs.

Going by what I can find, I'd have to say that we may not even have any neutron bombs at present. I think from reading the available literature that we could modify another nuclear weapon very quickly though. We should also keep in mind that the great passion for development right now among nuclear weapons enthusiasts is for mini-nukes or micro-nukes. I started laughing recently when one of them in the Pentagon talked about building nuclear weapons that are non-lethal. Like a big firecracker, I guess.
62 posted on 09/20/2001 8:21:50 AM PDT by George W. Bush
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To: George W. Bush
Considering all the black projects that are never detailed and usually unknown, who really knows (aside from the very, very elite) what the military and intel operatives have?
145 posted on 09/22/2001 3:04:11 PM PDT by Thumper1960
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