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Comment on US to build new nuclear gravity bomb

atzanteol@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

In a follow-up statement, a Pentagon spokesperson said that will include the B-21 Raider stealth bomber the Air Force now has in development with Northrop Grumman. But the U.S. now does not plan to deploy it on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon said.

This feels so out of date to me. We have guided ballistic missiles, drones, etc. Why are we still thinking about dropping an united bomb like this from an aircraft with a human in it? It’s >1 megaton ffs - close should be “good enough”?

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Joker@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Because they can glide a long way and are stealthier without propellant. It’s still a standoff weapon. The B21 is a stone cold killer. It can get in fairly close undetected and drop from high altitude in still relatively safe airspace. The bombs are away without anyone ever knowing it was there. Then you’ve got a stealthy bomb gliding in silently. It probably shows up on radar like a raindrop.

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- Jumpinship@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Randrops are falling on my head Soon we will all be dead
  
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grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
What happens when someone takes control of the guidance? A bomb dropped from the sky is going to obey the laws of physics and that’s it.

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- vale@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Laws of physics? What are you, a narc?
  
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  - Raxiel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    i.imgur.com/z3EEL82.mp4
    
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    RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    I’m so glad someone made it into a movie.
    
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- atzanteol@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  You dont just “take over” an inertial guidance system.
  
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  - grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    No, but the possibility exists.
    
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    vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    In the same way the atoms that make up you and the atoms that make up a car wont hit eachother if you get hit. Unless there is some massive amount of fuckery theres no stopping a bomb once its dropped.
    
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thelastknowngod@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Dispersal of liability if something goes wrong?

It’s not the ground-based targeting system so that company can’t be sued. It’s not the onboard nav so that company can’t be sued. It’s not the software so that company can’t be sued. It’s not communication latency or interference so we can’t blame it on a bad command decision to push forward without more reliable data points.

The only thing that will ultimately result in a nuclear weapon being dropped is if the guy with human eyes is looking at the target, makes a judgement call, and pushes the button.

All that being said, we should not be building more nukes regardless. This is dumb.

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bonus_crab@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
You can probably fit more bomb in the same package if you odnt have to worry about propellant

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RedWeasel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I would lean to reliability and speed. Ballistic missiles don’t get a lot of testing while the bombers are flown regularly and takeoff/land pretty much anywhere .

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