[FreeAtlanta]

There was a huge battle between Admiral Rickover and General LeMay over who would control and deliver our nuclear arsenal.

The Nuclear Subs with their missiles basically killed off the research into the nuclear airplane... not that sinking that crazy idea was a bad thing.

I didn’t know the Russian’s had that thing that started this thread. I would love for Mr. Boyd to know about it.

[chimera]

I frankly don't see the advantage of nuclear propulsion in an aircraft. Nuclear propulsion gives you the advantage of long time on-station and stealth in an underwater environment. That is great for subs where you can dive deep, take advantage of thermal layers, hide under the ice, and don't have radar painting you in the sky. Long time on-station for an aircraft has no particular advantage when your job is to get to a target, deliver your weapons, and get out again. Stooging around up in the sky just makes you more of a target. Combine that with the limited cargo capacity of the nuclear airplane (because of the shielding) and I don't think you have a very good bet. Missiles on land or at sea are a better deterrent.