So if the Clinton administration had given the green light to building a working version of this weapon, OBL would have died at Tora Bora (beyond a shadow of doubt).
The B61 has four major sections:
* Nose Subassembly: contains a dual-channel radar airburst fuze and two piezoelectric crystal impact fuzes, and shock mitigating material for laydown delivery.
* Center Warhead Subassembly: "hard case" containing the actual thermonuclear warhead, sealed and desiccated with polyurethane spacers to support warhead and provide shock isolation. Also contains thermal batteries, safeties, and firing circuits.
* Rear Subassembly: Preflight arming controls, fuzing option switches, safe separation setting dials, and spin rockets for free fall weapon stabilization.
* Tail Subassembly: consists of bomb fins, afterbody structure, parachute with associated deployment and release mechanisms. Complete parachute assembly weighs 115 lb.
Mod 11: Tactical or strategic bomb with multiple yield options presumably ranging from 10 Kt (and possibly lower yields) to 340 Kt. This is a modified Mod 7 with a one-piece case hardened steel center case, and a new nose piece and rear subassembly to provide ground penetration capability for defeating buried targets. The parachute assembly has also been removed, and new aerodynamic fins added for high-velocity, accurate delivery. The B61-11 buries itself 3-6 meters underground before detonation, transfering a much higher proportion of the explosion energy to ground shock, compared to surface bursts. The actual warhead itself is identical to the Mod 7. This is the first new model of a U.S. warhead to go into service.
Delivery Systems: B-52, B-1,B-2B, F-15E, F-16, F/A-18, A-6, AV-8A, Tornado
A B-2 can carry 16 of these, and a B-52 can carry 8.
The NPR endorsement??
Congress needs Nina Totenburg and Daniel Schorr to say yes? Baah!
That is a BIG hole. Wonder if there are pics of these holes in public domain?
I think the other article on the mini nukes might have been a Popular Mechanics article.
PLEASE HELP ME TAKE BACK THE SENATE!
Fig. 5 Underground nuclear tests must be buried at large depths and carefully sealed in order to fully contain the explosion. Shallower bursts produce large craters and intense local fallout. The situation shown here is for an explosion with a 1 KT yield and the depths shown are in feet. Even a 0.1 KT burst must be buried at a depth of approximately 230 feet to be fully contained. (Adapted from Terry Wallace, with permission.)