And according to background information in the unclassified documents, there were also questions about how a nuclear explosion and its shockwave would spread depending on the "depth of burst and receiver altitude." With this idea, there were concerns about sacrificing US equipment and personnel to hit Soviet submarines. What happens to the blimp? What happens to the crew, assuming it's crewed?" You can't just drop it off a blimp and scoot away. "And they were right to certainly be concerned," Schwartz said. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph, USN 710175. SK type airship taking off from Naval Air Station Lakehurst, circa 1956. Their surveillance and offensive capabilities made them useful, but their slow speeds raised a number of questions about whether airships could drop nuclear weapons and actually survive the devastating explosion. These airships, he said, "could hang around in the air for long periods of time," act as scouts for potential naval threats, like submarines, and drop bombs on enemy targets from safe distances. "If we had already used blimps and airships effectively in World War II, then why wouldn't we consider putting nuclear weapons on them?"Īs NPR science desk Senior Editor and Correspondent Geoff Brumfiel noted in a recent Twitter thread on this interesting bit of US nuclear history, blimps were especially useful for naval combat. "In the 1950s, it was more or less the case that if anything could be nuclearized, we thought about nuclearizing it," Stephen Schwartz, a consultant, writer, and expert on US nuclear weapons history and policy, told Insider. Naval fleet.According to unclassified documents, the Navy sought to "determine the response characteristics of the Model ZSG-3 airship when subjected to a nuclear detonation in order to establish criteria for safe escape distances for airship delivery of antisubmarine warfare special weapons."Īlthough the idea of nuclear-armed blimps might seem strange, it's far from surprising, especially considering some of the other developments of the early years of the Cold War, such as nuclear guns, atomic artillery, and nuclear air-to-air missiles, among other things. Ballistic Missile Submarine Stock Image by PaladinSoCal 3 / 249 Top of nuclear submarine. Submarine Stock Photo by yayayoyo 31 / 4,429 Submarine Stock Images by cteconsulting 8 / 2,799 Submarines Stock Photos by valkos 18 / 4,602 Submarine Stock Photography by m_cramer 30 / 805 submarine Stock Photo by TsuneoMP 9 / 523 Yellow submarine under water Pictures by konstantinks 9 / 1,155 Yellow Submarine Stock Image by DWiedemann 7 / 1,918 Submarine Kids Stock Photos by lenm 10 / 433 submarine Stock Photographs by nem4a 15 / 1,394 Military submarine Stock Image by konstantinks 2 / 459 submarine Pictures by TsuneoMP 5 / 348 U99-German Submarine Stock Photo by Digitalstudio 5 / 793 Submarine Stock Images by arvebettum 3 / 471 submarine Stock Photo by xavigm 4 / 296 Submarine USS Trigger of WW2 Stock Image by MIRO3D 5 / 104 Submarine Stock Photos by konstantinks 3 / 336 Submarine Stock Photo by Sheri_Armstrong 3 / 128 Submarine Stock Photo by albo 4 / 509 Submarine Stock Photography by m_cramer 8 / 258 Submarine Stock Photo by Baloncici 4 / 330 Los Angeles Class Attack Submarine Stock Photos by PaladinSoCal 3 / 288 submarine Stock Photo by mrivserg 1 / 367 Submarine periscope Picture by Andreus 21 / 4,262 submarine vector silhouettes Stock Photography by draganmilenkovic 8 / 1,139 Submarine Stock Photos by njaj 2 / 360 German world war 2 submarine - aft torpedo room Stock Photos by furzyk73 1 / 125 German world war 2 submarine type VIIC/41 Stock Photography by furzyk73 2 / 258 cartoon submarine Stock Images by lineartestpilot 2 / 181 Happy kids cartoon in submarine on Stock Photography by Tigatelu 8 / 326 Torpedo room section of a submarine Picture by EvrenKalinbacak 3 / 162 submarine Stock Image by xavigm 2 / 104 submarine Stock Photography by TsuneoMP 2 / 111 Cartoon submarine Stock Photo by clairev 2 / 1,529 U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |