"How Will The B-2 Earth Penetrating Nuclear...." Topic

…. "Bunker Buster" Bomb Change Warfare?.

"The Air Force's B-2 Stealth bomber has test-dropped an upgraded, multi-function B61-12 nuclear bomb which improves accuracy, integrates various attack options into a single bomb and changes the strategic landscape with regard to nuclear weapons mission possibilities.

Earlier this summer, the Air Force dropped a B61-12 nuclear weapon from a B-2 at Nellis AFB, marking a new developmental flight test phase for the upgraded bomb, Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Hope Cronin told Warrior Maven earlier this year.

"The updated weapon will include improved safety, security and reliability," Cronin said…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Apparently not as much as that new sidearm….

How accurate does a nuke really need to be?

Apparently not as much as that new sidearm….

@Pan: If you are willing to use a larger boom, then you don't need accuracy in a nuke.

But if you're wanting to use the smallest nuke possible, you need the accuracy. The B61-12 is only 50kilotons, which makes for a very small crater. GPS-guidance makes it so that the expected error is small enough that the target bunker will be inside the crater.

Though there is some quite justified concern that a super-accurate baby nuke (detonating underground) will be more likely to be used.

Well, as far as nukes go, I'm old school, and if you're going to go to the trouble to use them, might as well use a BIG one, just to be sure, especially with enemy GPS jammers, and other countermeasures, not to mention no knowing exactly how big those underground bunkers are, and where they're located.

A safe nuke.

Lol.

Pathetic waste of money. Only time it would ever be used is about five hours before a nuclear holocaust.

Well, once they drop it for real, that'll certainly change warfare, as the enemy (or just another Nuclear force supporting the enemy) retaliates with one (or many) not so accurate.

So I'd say "Reboot warfare back to sticks and stones".

Safe in terms of limited fallout due to underground blast, maybe.

The real problem is what happens if/when they're used. Against a nation with a nuclear stockpile, there is a good chance of escalation.

The problem is, I suspect that the Mod12 is intended to smite artillery positions on the Korean DMZ.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

The problem with underground blasts, much like surface ones is it will throw up lots of dirt, and ash, AKA fallout.

Large airbursts set off at the right height still get the job done, but produce much less fallout, and residual radiation to worry about.

If your blast is deep enough you don't get any dirt thrown into the air.

Oh, another criteria for 'safe nuke': conventional explosives that don't go off easily, so if the weapon is accidentally dropped or exposed to a fire there is no chance of a dirty bomb.