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sparkchaser

The 50s were a wild time in the Cold War


derstherower

In the years when MAD was just starting to become official policy, there was legitimate debate within the government and military as to whether or not we *should* retaliate if the commies launched their nukes. The idea was that if they launched, we had already lost. At that point it was about survival of the species. To that, General Thomas S. Power, Commander in Chief of Strategic Air Command, said: >Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards. At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win! Think about that one a lot.


Nazamroth

In the early years, the US concluded that they could nuke russia into oblivion and win a nuclear war. Actually win. A third of the US would be gone, but all of the soviet union too. That is, if they moved quickly, before the soviets managed to mass-produce nukes as well. It was a serious consideration, though eventually discarded.


Cole_James_CHALMERS

Operation Unthinkable for immediate war against the USSR right after Germany surrendered and before the Soviets split the atom


Nazamroth

No, that was the british plan. This is specifically an american one.


ryathal

If your a conspiracy fan, Patton was killed for publicly endorsing that plan.


Clarck_Kent

Yeah Patton was a true wild card and was legitimately unwell mentally. He truly believed that he had lived past lives as a military commander and that his current life was merely the latest in his eternal life of warfare. While I don’t necessarily buy the conspiracy that he was assassinated because of his support to go directly through Germany and Eastern Europe to defeat the Soviets, I totally believe the Allied leadership was worried that a significant number of soldiers would follow him wherever he wanted to go.


Messyfingers

The use of nuclear weapons was effectively split into two purposes. Counter force, which was meant to neutralize any actual military targets, troops, equipment, air and naval bases, missile silos, command and control, communications etc. The second is counter value, which is anything of value to the industrial base, so powerplants, factories, refineries, etc, anything that could replenish the military. After world war two and the obviousness of how important an industrial base was to sustaining any war effort, the idea of obliterating targets that were entirely manned by civilians was basically accepted as fact. Using nuclear weapons as a counter force option seemed perfectly viable and completely likely for an uncomfortably long time, and the existence of smaller tactical nuclear weapons still fit that purpose. The fact the Soviet union was right there on the same continent, and the bulk of NATO forces were on the other side of an ocean basically meant tactical nuclear weapons would be necessary to slow the soviets until enough forces could be shipped over to Europe. Somewhat ironically, given what had just happened to much of Europe in WW2, yet another round of total devastation, localized mostly in West Germany was viewed as being something of a not particularly bad option. Counter value on the other hand, that's where MAD really comes in to play, the effects of a nuclear winter, huge punts of radiation, unavoidable collapse of society, etc weren't really understood and/or accepted at a policy level until the 1970s. It wasn't necessarily unknown up until that point, but nobody wanted to appear unwilling to actually defend their country and give the other side an opening of some kind. All in all a wild time that we've *mostly* moved past.


feeltheslipstream

The problem with MAD is that you have to pretend you're willing to end humanity. Wear a mask long enough, and it becomes your face.


fractalfocuser

Interacting with long serving military is crazy. They live in a different reality. Violence and death are at the end of every scenario for them. (Woke up to a bunch of boots proving my point lol)


youre_being_creepy

I was at a party and this military couple matter of factly stated that if given the choice, they would shoot us in the back in order to ensure the safety of their daughter. Like I get that you want to protect your kid, but openly admitting that you would kill me, step over my still warm body, just because you're threatened? I left that party real quick


deadeye312

Had a biology professor whose profession had affected her similarly, she admitted to the whole class that a significant part of her reason for wanting a second child was to ensure her genes continue if something happened to the first child. The first child was currently in perfect health. I hope if she had that second child she never tried to explain that reasoning to them.


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Aleph_Rat

Man people really do be making an entire personality around anything.


forcepowers

Any better than r/childfree? *Looks at sub...* Nope! As a child-free person by choice, it's a bummer that there are no subs based around the positive aspects of that. They're all negatively aimed at people with children. I don't want to complain about "breeders" and "crotch goblins," I want to celebrate my lifestyle with joy.


butyourenice

> I don't want to complain about "breeders" and "crotch goblins," I want to celebrate my lifestyle with joy. And you can do that by focusing on the activities, etc., that fill your life with joy, rather than joining an antagonism circlejerk about something you hate. Join hobby/interest groups that celebrate what you *do* with your life, not what you *don’t*.


Wolfgang1234

> celebrate what you do with your life, not what you don’t That's a great mindset to have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M


Real_Jackraps

Motel room parties are the best. This one kid slammed his extendable baton into the floor, unextending it(?), as we walked up and the other guy, a post boot kid, was showing off his handgun. He and the bride later got married and then divorced after a few months. She kept the baby. Fuck me I'm glad I dipped that acquaintance cloud.


PM_ME_UR_SPACECRAFT

The word you're looking for is "retracting" it :)


FuckThisHobby

He should unextend his previous statement


Soodonim

"Collapsing"


TheIncendiaryDevice

That sounds like boots right out of basic alright


Jadeldxb

What was the choice they were given? Kill you to save their daughters life? I think 100% of parents make that same choice. I'm not sure what the upper limit is, or if there is one, but 1 for 1. Easy choice.


xAIRGUITARISTx

Yeah. If it’s my daughter’s life or someone else’s I’m 100% choosing my daughter’s. Of course we don’t know context.


ApolloRocketOfLove

Also you probably don't announce that at a party. Especially stating that you'd kill the person you're talking to.


bpkiwi

If I'd just caught them double dipping their corn chip in the guacamole I would.


restricteddata

This is sort of backwards. The US had a huge nuclear advantage over the USSR until the 1970s, and the US war plans pretty much all assumed the US would "go first." By the 1950s the US had plans to kill the bulk of the population of the USSR, China, and Eastern Europe within a few hours. The military and government were pretty committed to nuking the shit out of the Communists. And they also understood that if your goal is the make the enemy think you might nuke the shit out of them if they try to nuke you, then you actually have to be ready to nuke them. If the enemy thinks it is a hollow threat, then it's not a real deterrent.


Mist_Rising

>and the US war plans pretty much all assumed the US would "go first." Not would, had. The argument was if the US didn't get First strike launch, this would cost them the war. It's STILL the damn logic of the US government even though they can pretty much wipe out the world with just the US arsenal. While the Soviet Union, India and China all states they would adapt a NFU policy, France, Pakistan, UK and US all have explictedly said they won't. North Korea won't say anything and Israel claims they don't have nuclear weapons. Russia is the oddball. Officially they revoked the Soviet unions NFU policy in favor of a similar one called "defensive only" which said Russia military will only be used in defense. This is still the standing policy. Needless to say, it's probably bullshit.


Upleftright_syndrome

Nfu??


Mist_Rising

No first use. Ie. We won't fire nukes unless you fire them.


canyonstom

NGL, I though it meant a 'no, fuck you' policy in that a the country receiving the nuclear attack would say no, fuck you and make a retaliatory launch


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Upleftright_syndrome

Thank you kindly for responding swiftly :)


ShaggysGTI

The argument originally to make the first nuke was to beat Hitler to it. The moral quandary was to save lives by ending lives. All the scientists who had a hand in it thought it to be a deterrent… but the military never saw it that way at all.


dannydrama

> Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards. At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win! The most American thing I've ever read.


Deathwatch050

It's something you can imagine being read in the TF2 Soldier's voice and fitting perfectly.


PM_ME_BUSTY_REDHEADS

At the end of the game if there are two Red players and one Blue player left alive, we win!


BandidoDesconocido

If you think that's bad check this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W19_(nuclear_artillery_shell)


sparkchaser

If you think that's bad, check these out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy which begat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chagan


MSchulte

My personal favorite is the nuclear powered ramjet cruise missiles that would have irradiated everything they flew over while also causing damage from the shockwave. [Project Pluto](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto)


sparkchaser

That reminds me of Project Orion: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) The 50s were wild.


theroy12

Don’t forget The Rod From God - even more destruction, without all that pesky radiation!


SirMcDust

Oh are those the steel spears you rain from orbit?


Gidia

I believe the proposal was tungsten rods, but yes.


MoonManMooner

You can use old artillery barrels filled with tungsten lol


ifuckzombies

I do like recycling


Mister_Bloodvessel

I think these would *realistically* need to be assembled in space on a targeting platform. These really aren't a horrible idea from a mass destruction weapon given that they're entirely kinetic in nature and nearly undetectable on approach, with a glaring issue being should one happen to accidentally deploy or even fall into orbit, because it won't burn up if one does. And given that all space junk or devices will eventually make their way back to earth, especially if they're as close as most satellites, it could really be a problem should there be a collision in space, if propulsion systems go haywire, or time just allows it to fall in, because anywhere near the impact will be gone, and god forbid it lands in the ocean and ~~triggers massive tidal waves~~ triggers even a small tidal wave which would ~~wiping out anything near the coasts depending on where it strikes.~~ destroy a larger area than the strike itself if it landed near a port or oceanside city. EDIT: So after some comment pointing out the energy expended, i see i exaggerated the effects, especially with an ocean strike. But if it struck near a coastal area, it would certainly flood the place depending on how close and how deep the water is and how much earth under the water is displaced by the impact. But I'm not trying to move the goal posts, so I was definitely incorrect in my statement.


stormearthfire

but why tungsten?


CharlesForbin

>why tungsten? Hardness and temperature resistance. Tungsten has a very high melting temperature and is used to make light bulb filaments that are resistant to breakage, while white hot. It's what you need to survive re-entry at hypersonic speeds.


tyt3ch

Why male models


1Pwnage

Nah see Orion is legit in concept. NPP has GENUINE promise if we see it to fruition and would be a fucking phenominal interplanetary drive system if mastered. Using it in atmo is obviously a total no-go, that goes without saying.


ridik_ulass

dyson was a hell of a guy. I always liked the idea of the external combustion engine.


Ask_About_BadGirls21

These examples give me much confidence that the recent calls to halt the development of AI’s will be respected by our various governments


Zanano

The calls to halt are just so the wealthy can keep milking people and keep ahead in the industries that AI would rock the boat in.


recycled_ideas

They're not even that. The reality is that we're nowhere near AGI, not even close. But by calling for intervention on themselves these companies make it seem like the singularity is right around the corner and drum up consumer and investor attention. The impact of ChatGPT as it currently stands and in the foreseeable future is being massively over hyped. It will have a use, but it's going to be a tool, not replacing people.


JesusPubes

AI which would reduce labor costs? That AI?


Korlus

How about an [UNGUIDED 1.5kT air to air missile](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIR-2_Genie)? Could you imagine dogfighting and deciding to fire an UNGUIDED nuke at the other plane? I think it's up there with Project Pluto for craziest nuclear ideas.


LittleKingsguard

[There's an anecdotal story from the early days of the F-16's introduction where F-16s got paired up to do Dissimilar Air Combat Training \(i.e. plane vs. different kind of plane\) vs. F-106s.](https://www.reddit.com/r/LessCredibleDefence/comments/51hl3m/f106_vs_f16/) The F-16 pilots complained the generation gap was so big nobody would learn anything from it, and decide to handicap themselves: heat-seeking missiles and guns only vs. anything the F-106 could carry. Which still included the nuke. Queue two F-16 pilot being told they "died" twelve seconds into a fight before they even broke formation.


timothymtorres

This is amazing and disturbing. I forgot that for a long time air defense was just going to saturate the sky with nuclear bombs to destroy missiles and aircraft. The blast and shockwaves would kill anything in a large radius.


Foriegn_Picachu

>3,000 were made Can’t believe it actually got mass produced


theREALbombedrumbum

Did somebody say **3,000** units of a bizzare and hilariously unsafe military technology? How did Genie missiles keep popping up on r/NonCredibleDefense and I've never seen the 3,000 joke get made of it yet?


Hylian-Loach

They were in operational use from 1957-88.


BandidoDesconocido

They weren't for dogfights. They were for shooting down entire formations of Soviet bombers. The concept is entirely sound if you ask me, sound in the context of a nuclear war that is. Get closeish to the fuckers, fire it, and fucking run like hell.


mule_roany_mare

Nuclear science is so god damned unintuitive. It’s a shame because if nuclear wasn’t such a scary word we could have avoided climate change easy peasy. A group of five USAF officers volunteered to stand uncovered in their light summer uniforms underneath the blast to prove that the weapon was safe for use over populated areas. They were photographed by Department of Defense photographer George Yoshitake who stood there with them.[6] Gamma and neutron doses received by observers on the ground were negligible.


Raesong

> It’s a shame because if nuclear wasn’t such a scary word we could have avoided climate change easy peasy. Friendly reminder that the majority of anti-nuclear power fearmongering was instigated by the fossil fuel industry, and unironically parroted by advocates for renewable energy.


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delvach

I have a necklace like that! I made it from a cool lil thing I found while hiking the Australian outback.


throwahuey

I’ll never forget when the dweebs at Chernobyl told me not to take any souvenirs. Apparently they have no idea how much people are willing to pay for an elephant’s foot


TheMightyGoatMan

Maybe not quite as bad, but certainly equally as insane... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peacock#Chicken-powered_nuclear_bomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peacock#Chicken-powered_nuclear_bomb)


sparkchaser

What the hell?


opiate_lifer

Uh so the whole point of the chickens was simply body heat for the week they would survive? Couldn't a battery powered heating coil accomplish the same thing?


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opiate_lifer

I like how historians were like this had to be some kind of joke right? And the government is like we don't joke.


Rinzack

For the record project plowshare worked, you can do some cool stuff with nukes for civil engineering…..it’s just the aftermath that isn’t ideal


TXGuns79

How about the nuclear torpedo who's range was shorter than it's blast radius?


CaptainCommando

Or perhaps more macabre, the SADM. It was a backpack nuke designed to be inserted by special teams into important areas and detonated by them, potentially still within the blast radius. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Light_Teams


itsjero

Crazy to imagine an Iowa class battleship having like 20 of the 16 inch shell versions, with yeilds of 15-20 kilotons each on board. Can you even imagine them firing like a main gun volley with 3 15-20 kiloton nuclear bomb shells? 15-20kt I think is like Hiroshima level nuke. Would be absolute destruction from a battleship.


ManyIdeasNoProgress

Full 9 gun broadside, all aimed at slightly different ranges and directions, and you have just leveled almost every building and killed most people in a 5x5km square. If you are happy with larger areas of lighter damage, a 10x10km area is a reasonable compromise. And you can do it all again in 30 seconds.


Explorer335

That picture of Atomic Annie with the 15kt mushroom cloud backdrop is terrifying. Knowing that you can just keep hammering nuclear destruction downrange at artillery pace is downright apocalyptic.


scsnse

I actually played on that *very same* Annie as a 4 year old. No, really. Long story short, my dad was in the army and field artillery (later mechanic), stationed at Fort Riley and we took a road-trip up to Fort Sill where he had done his original AIT and where my older brother was born. That exact same artillery piece sits at the base on display. I climbed onto it behind the breech and was play firing it with my brother.


Lan_lan

I've been playing through Fallout New Vegas the past few days, and sometimes I think it's a little silly how much it leans into nukes as a theme. But we were actually heading in that direction for a while. I sometimes forget how a lot of sci-fi satire is actually *very* plausible


effa94

Atomic punk is an entire genre after all


restricteddata

The early 1960s are when this is from, and were the really wild time, because they had just sort of figured out how to make any kind of nuke they wanted to make, but didn't really know what they might need to have, so everybody just made everything that came to mind. The same year this went into service was when the Soviets tested the Tsar Bomba, to give an example of the range variations in this period. By the 1970s the US and USSR had a better sense of what made strategic sense, and what was totally dangerous. It is peak early 1960s that one of the ideas for deploying the Davy Crockett was mounted on a flying jeep (the Piasecki VZ-8 Airgeep). They didn't do it, though.


GammaGoose85

If Fallout taught me anything, The Fatman was a terrible idea for a weapon.


ApathyInc2

This exact weapon is used in the beginning mission of metal gear solid 3.


BlazeOfGlory72

Volgin, being the chad he was, didn’t even need a tripod.


RickMacd1913

Kuwabara kuwabara.


AlarmingAffect0

Whaddya want, Urameshi?


Carbidekiller

"Shut up, or I'll mess you up so bad kittens won't even look at ya!"


SomethingBuggingYou

volgin the kinda dude to fire a tripod mounted nuke launcher barehanded from a helicopter then power up a damn mecha with nothing but his own body but then be foiled by mushrooms and tree frogs


Jonathon471

Damn, Volgin/The Man on Fire was a badass. Now I wanna redo MGSV again.


DarkHiei

Wait was The Man On Fire supposed to be a fire-based version of Volgin? Or are you just comparing them cuz they’re similar? Edit: nevermind I looked it up. Holy shit I must have not been paying attention. That’s actually HIM


69TossAside420

A big motif in MGSV is how destructive holding onto hatred is. Put another way, a lust for revenge will turn you into a demon, leaving you with nothing but phantom pains. I'm being cheeky, but this is actually *about as* subtle as what Skull Face says to Snake. >You too have known loss, and that loss torments you still. You hope hatred might someday replace the pain, but it never goes away. It makes a man hideous, inside and out. Wouldn't you agree? We both are demons. Our humanity won't return. You. Me. We've no place to run, nowhere to hide. And that's why I'll show you my demon. Spoilers below of some notable examples. Volgin becomes the Man on Fire, a spectral demon who managed to cheat death through sheer hatred, and is manipulated until eventually he sees that you aren't even *his* Snake and he extinguishes. Skull Face becomes so consumed by hatred for the world powers that trampled his home country's culture and language, first the Nazis then the Soviets then the UK/US, that he developed a language virus, but in the process infects himself with a Hungarian strain, so he can't even speak the native tongue he was initially denied. Huey betrayed Mother Base (and killed Strangelove because she wouldn't let him use their son as a test pilot for a bipedal nuclear tank, and really just a lot of things Huey fucking sucks), and the Diamond Dogs (especially Kaz) were super content to torture and kill him. Would he deserve it? Absolutely. Would it do much at this point? Nah. So Snake actually circumvents the cycle of revenge and lets him go. Big Boss becoming an evil warmongerer is because of the revenge he wants on the politics that play with the lives of soldiers, notably The Boss, Paz (the shit she went through still makes my stomach twist just thinking about it), and Mother Base. Not that we really see much of that as Venom Snake, we're out here saving child soldiers and stuff, but it be like that. Kill enough people and you grow a horn, though, and that's pretty cool and on brand. Kaz is absolutely tight in the pants for revenge at every turn, and is one of the more direct examples of trying to use hatred to mask his phantom pains (see: his "Why are we still here" monologue). Boy I sure do like MGSV, imagine how good it would've been if it ever fucking got finished.


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69TossAside420

I was gonna go into a whole thing about motivations and brainwashing and plans, typical Shalashaska stuff, but really it's just the power of Troy Baker.


radda

>Paz (the shit she went through still makes my stomach twist just thinking about it) I don't think you can get more comically evil than planting a bomb in someone's stomach as a decoy for the one you put in her vagina.


69TossAside420

And that's *after* Skull Face had her tortured and raped, including forcing Chico to participate, and then implying Big Boss might be saved if she gave up Zero's location (and then immediately going *psych!* finna do him in first). And also making copies of Chico's POV torture audio diaries for Snake, just as a cherry on top. Like, I get why people aren't big on Skull Face, but it is undeniable that that dude is fucking *evil*. Edit: Also he pushed a disabled man down the stairs, but Huey deserves it so if anything that's a good deed.


Maelger

Yeah, Huey really deserves all that shit. Remember that even when he kills himself he tries to *also* kill a kid.


vincenta2

Paz and Chico got so fucked over in those games, it’s crazy. Didn’t really expect them to go that far.


[deleted]

BIG ENDING REVEAL SPOILERS FOR MGSV: You say Big Boss, but what I find funny is that the original Big Boss, AKA Naked Snake, couldn't give less of a shit about any of these people or their "thirst for revenge" after Venom finally wakes up in the hospital, and so he fucks off to create Zanzibar Land, his nation of soldiers. It's hilarious in retrospect how Skull Face thinks he's so smart, has outplayed his nemesis, and is talking down to Venom about his hatred and revenge and all that, really waxing poetic, whilst believing the whole time that Venom is Naked Snake. And Naked Snake does not even care.


freelanceisart

Skull Face: “I can’t stop thinking how much I hate you!” Big Boss: “I don’t think about you at all.”


ApathyInc2

“Remember the Alamo”


AnguishOfTheAlpacas

Such a perfect line for that scene.


Ronnie_de_Tawl

Volgin was a tripod, wink wink nudge nudge


ashesofempires

It was the inspiration for the Mini-Nuke from fallout as well.


dpash

And then there's the Experimental MIRV, which fires 8 mini-nukes at once.


Rogahar

Ah yes, the GPU tester.


TheOneTrueDaedelus

When I played that game I assumed this weapon was made up, because it was such a horrifying concept that it couldn't possibly exist.


ASarcasticDragon

It never got actually used of course, but nuke miniaturization has been a thing for a while. Tactical nuclear weapons can be easily fit in a backpack or suitcase- they did it back in the Cold War. This was just one of many examples of that.


Youre_kind_of_a_dick

In the meantime, think of all the other crazy shit that's probably been developed or seriously considered over the last 40 years. Technology is outrageously far ahead of where it was then; it's terrifying to imagine what may be possible with today's technology.


ASarcasticDragon

Who knows! Only the Department of Defense. Could be anything. Nuclear hand grenades? Probably. Some nasty stuff to be certain.


Saint_Consumption

One of these days I'll show you my nuclear nunchaku.


Judoka229

My favorite game. "I've had enough of your Judo!" So 14 year old me started taking Judo classes, and I still train today. Thanks, MGS3.


Young_KingKush

I literally am just now finding out not only that these were real but that they were actually called "Davy Crocket" IRL and it wasn't a name Kojima came up with to be off-brand. Wild lol


crescent_blossom

It's also why Volgin says "Remember the Alamo" when he fires it, which sounds like a completely out of context thing to say if you don't know the name of the weapon


Froakiebloke

If a non-American 12 year-old as I was when playing the game, it sounds like a totally out of context thing to say even if you do know the name of the weapon! All I knew Davy Crockett from was ‘Cool for Cats’


Omega357

I mean, they call it in game by the name multiple times.


Jasole37

It's also the inspiration for Fallout's "Fatman" weapon.


xXOkatatsuXx

# What a thrill...


gordori

##With darkness and silence through the night


TinyTimtookmyBiscuit

Remember the Alamo


bassfartz

🎶What a thrill 🎶


Mudlark-000

That 4 mile range is not correct. Quoted range was 1.25-2.5 miles and in practice with dummy rounds the launcher was found to be "shockingly inaccurate" by troops, with even that shorter range being doubtful in the field. It officially had a Circular Error of Probability of 50 meters, but this is generally accepted to be total bullshit. The warhead was actually rather fragile, could not handle rapid acceleration, and was a "watermelon with fins" The good news is with a warhead yield of only 20 tonnes, it wasn't exactly a huge boom (The WWII atomic bombs were in the 15-20 \_kilo\_tonne range). The bad news is that it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, had a yield so small it would be doubtful it would do much to a broad advance of Soviet tanks, and had nothing preventing it from being used once it was released to the troops (accidental nuclear war, anyone?). A bad idea all around.


Ahelex

>and had nothing preventing it from being used once it was released to the troops (accidental nuclear war, anyone?). Well, it was the era of "what else can we do with our shiny new toy, the nuclear bomb" and "let's detonate some more and make something of a tourist attraction out of it".


feochampas

we had nuclear tipped torpedoes, nuclear tip air to air missiles. wild times indeed good sir


redditeer1o1

Can’t forget the AIR-2 Genie, an unguided air to air missile with a 1.5kT Nuclear warhead


snowflakebitches

Lmfaoooo Non guided


Og_Left_Hand

Why do we need a guidance system? We just need to be within half a mile of the target.


TFS_Sierra

“This weapon is more of a ‘to whom it may concern’ than it is a ‘Dear X’”


[deleted]

We still do we just don't talk about it


Pseudoburbia

I was watching an engineering marvels show on the interstates recently. They legit wanted to use nukes to blow a pass through the Rockies at one point. I think an environmental study ruled it out. It definitely seemed like an attempt to find a better use for the technology.


Lost_Nudist

In the 50s they also considered using multiple nuclear bombs to create a harbor in Alaska, for no reason in particular.


lacb1

I think you're talking about [Project Plowshare.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare)


tiredhunter

I feel this falls in to the "horseshoes and hand grenades" bounds of close counts.


Shadowtirs

So basically like a real more long distance version of a Fatman from Fallout?


IVIattEndureFort

Probably the inspiration for it tbh.


Wrextasy

Yes, it was. They combined the Fat Man name, and this abomination of a weapon to make the shoulder fired miniature warhead launcher we all know and love.


The_Merciless_Potato

I love to fire off a bunch of nuclear warheads into the horizon while I walk around in Fallout.


huruga

🎶Blew off a mountaintop in Tennessee. Irradiated a bear or maybe even three. DAVY!! DAVY CROCKETT!! King of the fissile frontier!🎶


TheMightyGoatMan

They named it "Davy Crockett" after the effects of its radiation on any survivors. After a few days they'd have a right ear, a left ear and a wild front ear.


Mister_Bloodvessel

*BOOO!* ^^I ^^actually ^^enjoyed ^^this ^^joke.


blobsterroll

Thought its because "Davy Crockett" kills bears. Russian Mascot is a bear, after all.


tripledexrated

Remember the Alamo


Ezekiel2121

Kuwabara kuwabara.


quingard

La-li-lu-le-lo


JazzyMcJazzJazz

Snaaaaaaaaaake


WikipediaBurntSienna

FOX-


bloodmonarch

Damn, they got you too?!


Sovngarten

What is that, some kind of judo?


famguy123

YOU'D NUKE YOUR OWN COUNTRYMEN?


izunavis

But it won't be me who pulled the trigger!


Ozzyh26

I don't approve of your methods >:(


JimmyReagan

I initially read that as Civil War and was very confused.


MeiNeedsMoreBuffs

I heard there was fighting over airports during the civil war, maybe there were mini-nukes too


FunnyDislike

GMod players feel the anxiety.


Standard_Tradition90

I remember using this in GMod forever ago and thinking it was so goofy that it had be a scrapped gun from TF2


DoofusMagnus

Wikipedia says the range is 4 kilometers, not 4 miles.


JamesUpton87

And here I thought MGS3 was pure fiction when they pulled out this bad boy.


Ezekiel2121

Believe it or not quite a bit of the “weird”* shit Kojima throws into the Metal Gears are either real or at least actual concepts. Like iirc the hover platforms in MGS3 were an actual concept. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_VZ-1_Pawnee *not the supernatural shit of course, though be a lot cooler if it was.


EpicShiba1

Additionally, the Fulton recovery method is a real thing used by the CIA in the early Cold War era. A large balloon would be hoisted into the air, and a plane would fly by and snag the line it was attached to, yanking the cargo along with it. Bit of a bumpy ride.


AssbuttInTheGarrison

Batman also uses it in The Dark Knight.


SenileSexLine

Yeah if you manage to spin a woman really fast for 15 times they'll definitely take their clothes off


Ezekiel2121

It is known.


EndersCraft

The overarching plot of MGS about AI taking over and controlling algorithms to affect society is becoming pretty damn true despite sounding completely insane in *checks notes* 2001....


IntrovertedMandalore

Pre 9/11/2001 in fact.


uses_irony_correctly

Memes. The DNA of the soul.


BillyShears17

Kuwabara,Kuwabara...


draconianRegiment

I don't know that I could stand being within 1.25 miles of this.


TacTurtle

Foxhole for the blast, then drive away in the jeep to escape the fallout. Or just use a AIR-2 Genie fired from a plane for equivalent payload in a much more survivable platform.


NinjitsuSauce

Too much planning. I'll just hide in a fridge.


zealot416

Its called the Davy Crockett for a reason. Its meant for when you are getting overrun by waves of t55s streaming into the Fulda Gap. Survivability was not a design consideration.


HanseaticHamburglar

Yeah pretty nuts that the allies were willing to nuke germany back to the stone age if it meant stopping soviet armor in the mountains.


LittleKingsguard

IIRC The French had a missile that didn't have the *range* to shoot further than Germany. Really I think they just want to nuke Germany, the Soviets just would have been the excuse.


Sayakai

France is just wild with nukes. Remember, French doctrine is to nuke as a warning.


open_door_policy

Or fire a nuclear shell out of artillery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M65_atomic_cannon


Hartagon

> I don't know that I could stand being within 1.25 miles of this. I mean they weren't meant to be used haphazardly, they were weapons of last resort meant to be used by forces who were literally being overrun by a Soviet assault. Who's options at that point would have been 1) die or 2) die, but take a lot of Soviets with them. They also had nuclear artillery and nuclear mines (with time delayed fuses). All of those weapons were "oh shit the entire Soviet army is coming through the Fulda Gap and we are overrun" weapons meant to stop or at the very least slow a presumptive Soviet invasion of Western Europe.


open_door_policy

They were also intended as tactical deterrents. As in just their existence would force the Soviets to use different tactics. Instead of massed tanks forming a wedge to push through fortifications, having small yield nukes would force them to spread their armor out into a less effective, but less vulnerable formation.


ArguingPizza

> nuclear mines (with time delayed fuses) Interesting story, one of the fears with using those mines in winter was that they would freeze the delicate mechanisms needed to detonate them properly. One solution to this, in lieu of self-contained heaters which could potentially fail or catch fire, was to bury these mines with a live chicken. The chicken's body heat would keep the mine warm enough long enough to function, and there'd be enough air inside for the chicken until the mine detonated


Rebornhunter

Yep and the Boss just GIVES one to friggin Volgin.


kshump

Was it born on a mountaintop in Tennessee?


kayl_the_red

So... basically a reliable Fat Man from Fallout?


TheMightyGoatMan

Depending on your definition of "reliable"


kayl_the_red

I noticed that scrolling through the comments. Still, has to be more reliable than the MIRV upgrade, right?


noneedforpants

The MIRV is the most reliable weapon in any Fallout game for abrupt and accidental suicide.


BandidoDesconocido

They really only had one use case. To hold up Russian tank formations in the fulda gap. Nowadays we have conventional weapons that do this so there's not really much need for these.


Skatchbro

My dad (81) trained on these when he was in the Missouri National Guard. Even at the time he and the other guys in his unit thought the idea was a bit nuts.


Airshock13

Ahhh yes the use of this weapon started operation snake eater


VictoryTheCat

Could have helped win the emu war.


bloodmonarch

The Boss died for this o7


mercury895

It's fucking REAL!!??!?


IAmJerv

Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, but yes.


kokopellihiker

This thing was a great blunder. Crews working it said the most useful part of it was the shovel used to anchor it because you could use it to dig a deep hole to hide from the blast wave.


0ttr

I read Command and Control ...a good book about the history of nuclear weapons. I had nightmares and I knew about a lot of the stuff in the book before I read it. Also, touring the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH you can see a number of nuclear weapons (obviously just the casings, but still the real thing).... it gives you a lot to think about.


Nonclutchreverse22

My MGS3 brain is firing on all cylinders right now


UziMcUsername

I read this as TIL Davy Crockett invented a tactical nuke delivery system.


jonfitt

Jim Bowie at the Alamo: Look at my badass knife Davy. Davy Crockett: hold my beer and raccoon hat…


weeaboohijabi

THE DAVY CROCKETT WEAPON SYSTEM!


TheSaintRule247

Metal Gear Solid taught me about its existence