US working on new Nucleonic Bomb

It would appear that HAARP has only whetted the militaries appetite for non-conventional weapons...

US military pioneers death ray bomb

Pentagon project brings fear of new arms race

David Adam and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Thursday August 14, 2003
The Guardian

American military scientists are developing a weapon which kills by delivering an enormous burst of high-energy gamma rays, it is claimed today.
The bomb, which produces little fallout, blurs the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons, and experts have already warned it could spark a new arms race. The science behind the gamma ray bomb is still in its infancy, and technical problems mean it could be decades before the devices are developed. But the Pentagon is taking the project seriously.

The plans are getting under way at a time when the Bush administration is seeking ways to expand its arsenal of unconventional weapons, and could well fuel charges that Washington risks triggering a new arms race.

www.guardian.co.uk...

Could you explain why this is different to the neutron bomb, it too delivers enormous bursts of gamma rays with little to no structural damage.

very nice... technology cant really get much different what next, troop size railguns, rail tanks and hand held energy weapons??

Originally posted by The Blade Runner
very nice... technology cant really get much different what next, troop size railguns, rail tanks and hand held energy weapons??

Have you seen the Movie "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within"?

Those aliens had rocket launchers+guns on thier arms.

That kind of device has name: "NEUTRON BOMB", hardly a new invention..

Originally posted by FULCRUM
That kind of device has name: "NEUTRON BOMB", hardly a new invention..

On the contray, a neutron bomb ( hence the name ) uses fast moving neutrons to kill organic targets. Gamma ray radiation is an entirely different matter. Gamma rays would be able travel much farther than neutrons causing much more destruction.

Here's a more indepth article on this:
"Gamma-Ray Weapon could trigger next Arm's Race."
www.newscientist.com...

Given the extreme costs of producing isomeric hafnium, it might be more effecient to craft a real "gamma-ray weapon" drone or aircraft with removable , reuseable cartridges or packs connected to the x-ray emitters and a the utilizing of a shield compartment for the pilot, if manned. These vehicles could or would just fly overhead, out of anti-aircraft fire and SAM detection and missile ranges, juice up the emitters, and simply give the target, enemy formations, sites, cities, etc., a healthy dose of radiation poisoning....

Sadly to say...cancer and death are both growth industries.

regards
seekerof

Sounds like a very sick plan.. makes "conventional" WMDs look like toys.. that is if this isnt "sci-fi" hoax propaganda..

What is it going to take for these people to decide to just stop one day. Stop the bullsh!t.

As if there weren't enough ways to splatter, fry, cook, boil, barbeque, dice, mince, chop, hack, roast, burn, gash, slash, slice, blow-up, explode, puncture, incinerate, consume, bake, or char people. We gotta find a new one. The end times is looking like a happier moment everyday...

The military industries of this world are some of the most influential, richest, and most powerful organizations in this world. Their aim, as is the aim of all military's, is the ever elusive: bigger, better, more.

Since the invention of the Atomic Bomb, this world has had the ability to destroy itself, over and over......

I agree Thorfinn, enough is enough. So much money and resources is spent on destroying man, yet little, in comparison, is used to better ourselves as a whole. We could end poverty, hunger, control AIDS, etc....NOT!

Sick world we live in with a sick sense of morality and destruction.

regards
seekerof

Makes me wonder what is so hard to realize here. You devote the majority of your time, efforts and money to weapons, you are going to have selfish, ignorant, violent people.

Our "leaders" are supposed to be intelligent? What a joke...

reply to post by dragonrider

By David Adam
August 16, 2003

Print this article
Email to a friend



United States military scientists are developing a weapon that kills by delivering an enormous burst of high-energy gamma rays, it has been claimed.

The bomb, which produces little fallout, blurs the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons, and experts have already warned it could spark a new arms race.

The science behind the gamma ray bomb is still in its infancy, and technical problems mean it could be decades before the devices are developed. But the Pentagon is taking the project seriously.

The plans are getting under way at a time when the US is seeking ways to expand its arsenal of unconventional weapons.

In May Congress approved further research on a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons - bunker busters designed to drill into underground shelters, and so-called mini-nukes with explosive yields of less than five kilotonnes.

According to New Scientist magazine, the gamma ray bombs are already included in the US Department of Defence's militarily critical technologies list - a wish list of possible weapons technology the US considers essential to maintaining its superior firepower.


advertisement

advertisement

The bombs would not have the awesome destructive power of nuclear weapons, but the energy emitted from a gamma ray bomb would be thousands of times greater than from conventional chemical explosives.

"Such extraordinary energy density has the potential to revolutionise all aspects of warfare," the magazine quotes the Defence Department as saying.

The device would not produce energy by triggering nuclear fission or a fusion reaction, like nuclear weapons. Instead it would rely on the gamma rays produced when the high-energy nuclei of some radioactive elements decay.

Four years ago scientists at the University of Texas in Dallas showed it was possible to trigger this effect artificially. The possibility that this decay process, which usually takes place very slowly, could be accelerated and used in a weapon grabbed the attention of the Pentagon.

Scientists at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico are studying whether this can be achieved. The weapons would allow military commanders to increase firepower without being forced to push the nuclear button.

Experts have warned that if the US scientists succeed in building a gamma ray bomb it could force other countries to start nuclear programs or, worse, encourage those who already have nuclear weapons to use them.

Just one gram of the explosive would store more energy than 50 kilograms of conventional TNT. It would be as expensive as enriched uranium, but less would be needed for a bomb. Unlike uranium, it does not need a critical mass of material to maintain the nuclear reaction.

It would produce little radioactive fallout compared with an atomic explosion, but could cause long-term health problems for anyone inhaling the particles.

The Guardian

Print this article Email to a friend Top
Search all Fairfax archives (*Fee for full article)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

National | World | Opinion | Business | Technology | Sport | Entertainment | Multimedia


World
The old star's a bit of a wreck
NY's finest react fast to terrorist attack that wasn't
Thousands trapped deep below the city



National
Going for broke
Photographer focuses on an eye-catching investment
Rein in that Mars frenzy - it's still 55 million kilometres away



Opinion
The capture of Hambali
Plain speak about Uncle Sam's lackey
Truth takes a merry jig



Business
BoQ raises $117m to buy financier
Drought pressure increases wool price
Singleton confident of 20% lift despite Indonesian hiccups



Technology

Push-button living
Love him tender
Read all about it



Sport
Talau's dual premiership opportunity
One-match ban delays Emerton's Rovers debut
Owner enjoys the risk with his $100,000 gamble



Entertainment
Lara and order
Classically beautiful, and not bad looking either
Returning to her roots in fertile soil

Originally posted by Vindicator
Could you explain why this is different to the neutron bomb, it too delivers enormous bursts of gamma rays with little to no structural damage.

The device would not produce energy by triggering a nuclear fission or fusion reaction, like current nuclear weapons. Instead it would rely on the gamma rays produced when the high-energy nuclei of some radioactive elements decay.

That would be the reason - a neutron bomb is basically a fission bomb that is made in such a way to maximise the neutrons released (in a normal nuke the casing is made to retain the neutrons to increase the power released from the fissile material going super critical - in a neutron bomb they flow right through the casing thus reducing the overall yeald of the device... I'm sure it's much more complicated than that, but that's my basic understanding...)

This is a whole new animal - presumably as it does not have to go to critical mass to have this reaction you could scale these things any where from hand grenade sized up to 2,000 lbs bomb or bigger and as Gamma radiation moves at the speed of light I expect that you could use this thing on a city in the morning and stroll through in the afternoon with no risk of radiating your self?? Through piles of bodies that died within minutes of getting dosed up with radiation, well around ground zero, the further away you were the longer you would suffer.... It would be akin to being able to make your own Gamma ray bursts hit your enemys terriotry at will.... That is some scary brown stuff.

And considering this is a DAARPA project, and those guys can keep a development secret right up until it's dropped on the world (literally sometimes) this is obviously a sanctioned release of information if it's in the MSM... So whether they have these things working yet or not, what they are doing is saying to all the states that are trying to get the nukes now - that the US is decades ahead, so really your wasting your time, you may as well just give up now - it's like an implied version of MAD...

Could back fire though - could galvanise those guys and they start knocking out nukes in all shapes and sizes like there is no tomorrow... Which could be a distinct possibility when you have a new arms race now a days...

Why are we working so hard to find ways to kill people? If we spent 1/10th of the money of developing weapons onto real education, food, water, and healthcare, the world wouldn't see any more reasons to fight.

Wars are caused by scarcity and competition over resources. Ironically, resources dwindle even more so when you spend money on war.

Stupid, don't you think?

Gamma Ray Bomb?

HULK SMASH PUNY TERRORISTS !!!!!!!! MUSLIMS LEAVE HULK ALONE !!!!!!! HULK IS BEST THERE IS !!!!!!!! HULK NO WANT TO TURN BACK INTO PUNY DICK CHENEY!!!!!!!!!




Now we are talking!!!!! if the creeps want to end the world bring out the Hulks!!!!!

Okay now i'm starting to get excited for the final Battle...

Any word on Zombie and Giant Monster development?


[edit on 15-11-2009 by mopusvindictus]

Originally posted by mopusvindictus
Any word on Zombie and Giant Monster development?

Gamma-rays are not stopped by the skin. They can induce DNA alteration by effect of whole-body gamma-irradiation on localized beta-irradiation-induced skin reactions in mice.[2]

linkey winkey

Oh don't! - Do you honestly believe there are scientists working for DARPA for years in underground bunkers surrounded by unlimited resources and a limitless supply of radioactive materials that have actually gone that mad as to potentially does millions of people with Gamma radiation??? -- Without at least considering the small chance that a few of the survivors will have mutations that give them fantastic super powers do you??

These are men of science - just because on a Friday night they are not allowed out on the town and they have to stay in with a lifetimes collection of Marvell comics and very dowdy female colleagues who have vitamin D deficiencies....







I'm scared now.

[edit on 15/11/2009 by Now_Then]

In the mean time the U.S. military is getting its butt kicked by a bunch of guys hiding in caves wearing sandals and shooting 40 year old AK-47's.

I think we need to focus on this war and not waste money on death rays that we will never use.