A slightly larger blast than planned
As a Las Vegas resident, I can hardly wait.
Defense News – Pentagon Plans Explosion at Nevada Site
The Pentagon plans to detonate 700 tons of conventional high explosives in Nevada in a June 2 test designed to gauge the effectiveness of weapons against deeply buried targets, officials said on March 30.
“I don’t want to sound glib here, but it’s the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons,” James Tegnelia, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, told a small group of reporters.
The test, dubbed “Divine Strake,” is sponsored by Tegnelia’s agency and is set to be conducted at the Energy Department’s Nevada Test Site in Nye County, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Las Vegas.
“All explosives, given the right thermal characteristics, will create a cloud that may resemble a mushroom cloud,” the Defense Threat Reduction Agency said in a statement. “The dust cloud from Divine Strake may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and is not expected to be visible off the Nevada Test Site.”
Nuclear tests at the site sent mushroom clouds billowing high into the air and became tourist attractions in the 1950s, but surface tests ended in the early 1960s.
Pentagon leaders have expressed concern about potential U.S. adversaries building deeply buried bunkers containing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons stockpiles or command-and-control structures that are difficult to destroy with existing weapons.
The agency said the test will involve detonating 700 tons of the Ammonium Nitrate-Fuel Oil, or ANFO, a commonly used agent in commercial blasting operations.
Officials said the test’s primary purpose is to examine ground shock effects on deeply buried tunnel structures, and the explosion will take place above an existing structure.
Tegnelia said because of the power of the explosion, officials will notify Russia and make sure authorities in Las Vegas understand the test.
He noted the Pentagon is currently developing several very large weapons intended to penetrate the ground to get at deeply buried and hardened targets.
Tegnelia said the “Divine Strake” test represents the largest conventional explosion Pentagon officials could imagine triggering to address the issue.
A strake is part of a ship’s hull.
Great, Just what we need more Ammonium Nitrate in the air and gamblers with brain tumors.
Hey I have an idea, I know it may sound silly but, How about using that money that will go up in a smoked mushroom anyway for helping man kind!
President Bush is a man with a consciousness of 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. His dad is 6. A president on the value of 9 or 10 would USE nuclear weapons. For example, instead of retaliating against Afghanistan for 9/11 by invading their country, a 9/10 president would not kill anyone but would still show the power and awe that is God by RESHAPING the mountain landscape using nukes. No one dies. No army is sent overseas. Only one plane is required to drop the nuke. Everyone will see before and after pictures of the mountains. God has carved out with His Mighty Hand the rock that extends from under our feet to the heavenly skies. That is shock and awe. As an act of God, the result on the mountains would be a sculpture that would be meaningful for all to see. The people would see the image of the prophet Mohammed in its aftermath. I know this doesn’t make sense. It is beyond rational but it includes rationality (physical laws). Same with Iraq. Nuke their deserts. Create a crater that becomes glass. A beautiful sculpture of fused sand in the form of a solidified mushroom cloud. That is the work of God: Out of powerful destruction comes extraordinary beauty. Bush is not capable of this. He is too low in consciousness. We have nuclear weapons which embodies God’s energy of destruction/creation. We need a president who is high on consciousness, a 9 (or 10, God Himself) to utilize correctly.
David, you are partly right. nuclear weapons haven’t been used in over 60 years. Many have forgotten their shear power and destruction. Maybe their use would be a wake up call to the world and they may not be so complacant on Iran developing them. The only thing worse then a country with nuclear weapons is a country with a mad man at the helm with nuclear weapons. Maybe France, Russia and Germany should rethink this when they sell nuclear componants to anyone who has the right amount of cash$$
How much of a mushroom cloud can you get from an underground test?
They should set up bleachers and sell tickets. I’d pay to watch. This would be way cool. The next best thing to actually watching a nuke go off.
It’s not an underground test. The weapon is designed to attack underground bunkers.
“The next best thing to actually watching a nuke go off.”
And no radiation. All the bang without the glow.
“All explosives, given the right thermal characteristics, will create a cloud that may resemble a mushroom cloud,”
All the tin-foil hat wearers KNOW this is just a cover-story for testing a real nuke! 🙂
…because of the power of the explosion, officials will notify Russia …
Why? Do we really have to worry about Russia thinking we have violated an arms treaty, and might start the “arms race” again??
What am I thinking?! With the Three Stooges [Dubya, Dick & Rumy] running the show, Putin’s generals might have legitimate cause for concern! 🙂
First Vegas, tomorrow Tehran.
“This weapon is designed to attack underground bunkers.”
Stupid, stupid stunt, designed only to spend taxpayer money by giving it to some military contractors.
Just how do you position 700 metric tons of high explosive so they can be used as a weapon? I would love to know what the delivery plan for a weapon design of this type is… a convoy of 70 trucks carrying 10 tons each?
The truth:
In reality this test has only one purpose: to prove the need for a new generation of battlefield sized nuclear weapons. We already did that in the past: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54 and basically abandoned the concept.They are no longer available in publicly recognized inventory, or George “W”armonger Bush would have used them in Afghanistan, really making his core constituency (aka “rednecks”) happy. And the budget for the design of this type of nuke is already being spent today.
David:
I have a feeling Bin Laden is in bunker village deep in the mountains of afganistan on the pakistan border Laughing his a$$ off at all off. Perhaps one of the mushroom babies will rock his world.
Since there are thousand of tunnels from mexico to the USA I’m sure that is where the first test will start.
From the other side of the coin we are screwing with the planet and its eco system. and we are going to piss a lot of people off in the process.
Who are we going to F with next.
You got love how the goofballs in goverment brain storm all this stuff up in thier war room
it’s not meant to be a weapon Awake….just as large of a bang as possible to see what happens. Apparently our *bunker busters* weren’t a big bang enough to do the job.
But David may have a point…….sometimes you need to show what you can do and what will be the result of your doing it.
There are only a few people left in this world who have actually been nuked. Most of us only know the power of a nuke (and a very small one at that) through film.
Since our military planners are not noted for their humanity or their enviromental concern, you have to wonder why they shelved the idea of battlefield nukes.
“The dust cloud from Divine Strake may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and is not expected to be visible off the Nevada Test Site.”
Is there some reason why they need to state 3,048 meters. Since this is an approximation, wouldn’t about 3000 meters be sufficient? After all, it may and it reach about 10,000 feet or about 3,000 meters.
Hmm, speculating here.
The military will never be able to deliver, via bomber or missile, 700 tons of conventional high explosives to a bunker.
However, they can duplicate the effect of 700 tons of high explosives with a kinetic drop from orbit.
THAT is what this test is about.