"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
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"Kevin Brooks" wrote in
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"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
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(Peter Stickney) wrote in
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In article ,
(Dav1936531) writes:
From: (BUFDRVR)


There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of
Soviet suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet
nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there
were never any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat
Ledbed (is that his name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely
for scaring the crap out of western nations.
BUFDRVR

We had/have "suitcase" nuke demolition charges.....it seems only
fair to assume that the Soviets had/have them too.

Hardly "Suitcase Nukes". More like "Steamer Trunk Nukes" or
"Footlocker Nukes". Our smallest nuke, the Small Atomic Demolition
Munition, wasn't really amenable to being carried about like
luggage.
If they have lost control of them, denying they ever existed would
be a good way to attempt to save face and to try to avoid any
liability for negligent management of their armaments should the
new owners use one in a terror attack.

Which wouldn't work worth a damn if they were ever used. Over the
last 6 decades, we've become very, very, good at puling radioactive
particles out of the air, and figuring out their provenance. We
can identify the parts of teh bombs that that dust was, originally.
We can identify the origin of the pit by assaying the various
levels of impurities and such that were part of teh original metal.
I wouldn't be a damned bit surprised if we could tell what
production batch the bomb pit was from.

Let's hope Al-Qaeda is blowing smoke.

Even the Russians don't do bombast quite like the Arabs.


If a nuclear bomb can be made to fit into a 155mm projectile,surely
one could fit into a suitcase? And since 155's are loaded into some
artillery by 'hand',they would not weigh more than what a person
could lift.

You make it 155mm or so in diameter, you have to make it *long*. And
they usually have a crew loading 155mm guns; even the regular HE
rounds are sort of heavy for one man to handle getting into position.

Brooks


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net




How long is a 155mm projectile?
(not the entire cartridge,if that's whats used)
I doubt the nuclear ones are any longer than a standard 155mm projectile.
(how long is one of those?)

The nuclear 155mm projectiles we fielded (they have all since been retired)
were around 41 inches long, IIRC (which is a bit longer than a standard HE
projectile, again IIRC--and not as long as the Copperhead CLGP). And since
you are talking about a 155mm system, that is the projectile only--those
kind of guns use seperate propellent charges. Weight of the nuclear round
was given as 118 pounds.

Brooks


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net