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posted by martyb on Wednesday April 12 2017, @11:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-under-six-inches dept.

Russia is reportedly developing sub-kiloton yield tactical nuclear weapons that can be shot from the upgraded guns of its future T-14 tanks. According to Defense One:

"The Russians ... maintain their tactical nuclear stockpile in ways that we have not," Hix said. Potomac Institute head Philip Karber, who helped write the Pentagon's Russia New Generation Warfare Study, offered a bit more explanation when Defense One spoke to him in January. While the United States retains just a few of its once-large arsenal of tactical nukes, Karber estimates that Russia currently has anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 of the weapons. "Look at what the Russians have been doing in low-fission, high-fusion, sub-kiloton tactical nuclear technology," he said. "It appears that they are putting a big effort...in both miniaturizing the warheads and using sub-kiloton low-yield warheads."

Why is that significant? By shrinking the warhead, you can shoot it out of a wider variety of guns, including, potentially, 152-millimeter tank cannons. "They've announced that the follow-on tank to the Armata will have a 152-millimeter gun missile launcher. They're talking about it having a nuclear capability. And you go, 'You're talking about building a nuclear tank, a tank that fires a nuke?' Well, that's the implication," said Karber.

The U.S. developed their own tactical nuclear weapons, such as 127, 155, 200, and 280 mm nuclear artillery shells, during the Cold War. The U.S. withdrew nuclear artillery from service in 1991, and Russia followed suit in 1992.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:48AM (11 children)

    by edIII (791) on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:48AM (#493176)

    The threat of nuclear fallout is overstated as it is.

    Is it though?

    2,000 to 5,000 of these weapons is not a prototype design, but a production weapon. If those things are fired they still devastate the environment, albeit, in a much smaller area. How many of them are there?

    The biggest concern is that Russia is what again? It's a failed country multiple times over that is now in contentious parts, some filled with Islamic bullshit. It could be a regime change away, a corruption filled night, and those weapons are in the hands of "bad hombres".

    How stupid was it to even build these weapons in the first place? The first thing you do when building a weapon is to consider what happens when you fire it. Continually building weapons that can never be fired, but designed to be fired easily, will not end well for our species. Not that our ending isn't coming soon and brutally for other reasons.

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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:53AM (5 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:53AM (#493178) Journal

    Putin will keep the Fatherland together and prosperous and earn Russia the respect it deserves!

    a corruption filled night

    An ordinary night in Russia?

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  • (Score: 2) by KiloByte on Thursday April 13 2017, @11:51AM (1 child)

    by KiloByte (375) on Thursday April 13 2017, @11:51AM (#493331)

    Those weapons already are in the hands of bad hombres.

    Unless you somehow classify as "good" a regime which keeps everyone who dares to say a word against the Dear Leader beaten, arrested and/or killed, invades countries left and right, and so on.

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    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Geotti on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:40PM

      by Geotti (1146) on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:40PM (#493357) Journal

      Unless you somehow classify as "good" a regime which keeps everyone who dares to say a word against the Dear Leader beaten, arrested and/or killed, invades countries left and right, and so on.

      Wait, I'm confused as to which country you're referring to right now?

  • (Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:23PM (1 child)

    by Kromagv0 (1825) on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:23PM (#493333) Homepage

    These small nukes were never meant to be main battle weapons. Given their small range you will likely be in the fallout zone and die for radiation poisoning if the wind isn't blowing the right direction. These nuclear artillery shells and other things like the Davy Crockett Weapon System [wikipedia.org] were/are weapons of last resort. These were the weapons that you use as the last man is retreating from the battle field as that guy is fucked anyway so it was to make taking ground by an advancing army as painful as possible for them. Also given their small size they produce substantially more fallout in the small area they affect since the fuel blows apart before most of it can undergo fission so they are like a giant dirty bomb.

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    • (Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday April 13 2017, @02:55PM

      by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 13 2017, @02:55PM (#493415)

      Almost every main battle tank has NBC systems to protect the crew. A tank can also easily strike at a target over 1km away. Tanks typically fight by pulling up in defilade, firing, and backing down into an even more protected position.

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  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday April 13 2017, @05:51PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday April 13 2017, @05:51PM (#493514) Journal

    The biggest concern is that Russia is what again?

    I don't know. Maybe we should ask the citizens of Ukraine.