And in other news, Putin announced a nuclear pig just flew three times around the kremlin, clicked its heels and said “there’s no place like dome” and turned into victory in the SMO.
It could essentially never land, at least, not on land. It would need to ditch at sea. Russia would consider these expendable, not reusable.
The easier engineering path is to boost it, switch on the reactor, let it fly until it hits the target (or fails), and accept that a crashed or expended vehicle will be a radioactive mess. That’s ugly, brutally inefficient, and politically toxic, which is exactly why the US shelved Project Pluto in the 1960s. Putin’s people can test prototypes, but committing to an operational, recoverable fleet creates a logistical and diplomatic nightmare.
If Russia wants a non-explosive recovery, the constraints are brutal: you have to stop the reactor, cool it, isolate the core, and move it through human-safe distances without shredding protective barriers. Materials, shielding, and remote handling gear must be world-class, and every step invites contamination risk.
It could likely be shot down without triggering the payload. But the reactor would scatter radiological material over a pretty sizable area. Plus you would get downwind contamination.
Do you think that thing is actually useful for anything besides killing Russian scientists and its own ground crews? Mostly propaganda? It doesn't seem very practical and it's fairly easy to detect with that IR plume from Hell. 🤔 I don't see any way to make it even remotely stealthy.
Very much propaganda, but the real danger is when the Russians blur the lines between using it as a symbol and actually believing in its utility. It's honestly another in a long line of "super weapons" that putin keeps investing in in his quest to be a Bond villain.
I guess when you stop to think about it logically, it becomes apparent that it's simply a flawed (read: stupid) weapon. Russia has much better ways to end the world. But I guess they have to spend their petrodollars on something that grabs headlines. Doing the tedious work of modernizing their existing nuclear force just isn't sexy enough.
Very enlightening.
And in other news, Putin announced a nuclear pig just flew three times around the kremlin, clicked its heels and said “there’s no place like dome” and turned into victory in the SMO.
The problem with the gambit Putin's trying is that everyone knows it by now.
This is more a Friday afternoon before a long weekend kind of post..
how can bring it down without it exploding etc. ?
It could essentially never land, at least, not on land. It would need to ditch at sea. Russia would consider these expendable, not reusable.
The easier engineering path is to boost it, switch on the reactor, let it fly until it hits the target (or fails), and accept that a crashed or expended vehicle will be a radioactive mess. That’s ugly, brutally inefficient, and politically toxic, which is exactly why the US shelved Project Pluto in the 1960s. Putin’s people can test prototypes, but committing to an operational, recoverable fleet creates a logistical and diplomatic nightmare.
If Russia wants a non-explosive recovery, the constraints are brutal: you have to stop the reactor, cool it, isolate the core, and move it through human-safe distances without shredding protective barriers. Materials, shielding, and remote handling gear must be world-class, and every step invites contamination risk.
and neutralisation by non-Russians?
It could likely be shot down without triggering the payload. But the reactor would scatter radiological material over a pretty sizable area. Plus you would get downwind contamination.
Do you think that thing is actually useful for anything besides killing Russian scientists and its own ground crews? Mostly propaganda? It doesn't seem very practical and it's fairly easy to detect with that IR plume from Hell. 🤔 I don't see any way to make it even remotely stealthy.
Very much propaganda, but the real danger is when the Russians blur the lines between using it as a symbol and actually believing in its utility. It's honestly another in a long line of "super weapons" that putin keeps investing in in his quest to be a Bond villain.
"One million dollars!" (Pinky in mouth)
I guess when you stop to think about it logically, it becomes apparent that it's simply a flawed (read: stupid) weapon. Russia has much better ways to end the world. But I guess they have to spend their petrodollars on something that grabs headlines. Doing the tedious work of modernizing their existing nuclear force just isn't sexy enough.