Experts say this new higher-yield nuclear bomb appears intended to pave the way for retiring the older B83 megaton bomb.

US to build new nuclear gravity bomb::Experts say this new higher-yield nuclear bomb appears intended to pave the way for retiring the older B83 megaton bomb.

  • abhibeckert@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    The explosion would kill the pilot if they were that close.

    Nah they’ll be fine. The initial blast radius of a nuclear bomb isn’t that big at all. It’s the radiation that’s terrible and a lot of that comes from the fallout/dust downwind of the blast.

    As high up as they would be air, it’d just be a momentary bright light and not a direct one since they will be flying away from the blast.

    … if the enemy has fighter jets though … you’re probably going to try and shoot down the bomber. Which might encourage using a drone.

    • ours@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know if they still do this but during the Cold War, they would practice tossing nukes.

      The plane flies low and fast, at the right time it climbs hard, belly up and at the top of the loop releases the bomb. While the plane continues its loop downward, the bomb continues in a ballistic trajectory. By the time it hits the target, the plane spends a minimum of time at altitude and a good distance from its target and can GTFO.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toss_bombing