Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the remember-that-story-this-past-weekend? dept.

Don't Forget That The Recent Russian Nuclear Accident Happened While Developing A Truly Insane Weapon

A few days ago, on August 8, there was an explosion on a barge in the White Sea near Nyonoksa, Russia. That explosion tragically killed seven people, nuclear engineers and technicians working on a project. The project was described as "an isotopic power source for a liquid engine installation," but let's be completely clear here: they were developing the nuclear propulsion system for a genuinely brutal and terrible weapon.

That weapon is known as 9M730 Burevestnik, known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, but is perhaps best understood as a modern rebirth of a terrifying American weapon concept from the 1960s known as the Flying Crowbar.

The Flying Crowbar was a nuclear-powered scramjet missile, capable of flying at hypersonic speeds with an almost indefinite range, spewing extremely radioactive exhaust and nuclear bombs all over the place.

[...] While this accident is absolutely a tragedy because of the loss of life and the significant radiation exposure in the area, the blow to the development of the 9M730 Burevestnik missile is not the tragic part.

The Burevestnik is not a defensive weapon; it's a weapon to attack at long range and spread death and destruction all along its path, even over people that have no involvement in whatever bullshit reason this thing was launched for.

Wikipedia entries on 9M730 Burevestnik and Flying Crowbar (aka Supersonic Low Altitude Missile).


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:57PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:57PM (#880451)

    Yeah, we've already come close quite a few times with one soldier outright disobeying the SOP to avert nuclear war.

    We should really make Dr. Strangelove mandatory viewing.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 2) by Farmer Tim on Thursday August 15 2019, @04:21PM

    by Farmer Tim (6490) on Thursday August 15 2019, @04:21PM (#880635)
    Bad idea: like 1984 it’ll become the textbook instead of a cautionary tale.
    --
    Came for the news, stayed for the soap opera.