Pakistan develops smallest nuclear weapon the size of a tennis ball.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by KnowledgeSeeker81

 

Who would the powers attack? Pakistan is an obvious one for having made them and if they distribute them. After that cat is out of the bag though, do you attack Pakistan again every time one of their little tennis balls of death blows up a city block somewhere? I sincerely hope they are just talking tough and making themselves sound more capable than they are. If they actually sent these out into the world like that, it'd be a nightmare trying to find and account for them all later.

No. Pakistan is a good country. Pakistanis would not hurt a fly.

All those drones are just to record cricket matches, you know.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


IMO the obvious start would be Pakistan, and I truly believe the tactics that would be used would supply the information of who, where, and how many were distributed. Then you would see the true espionage tactics of Russia and the US combined in tracking and eliminating these threats. It wouldn't be a glorified witch hunt like with bin-laden to prolong a base-less war, this would be a true serious threat to world security. Knowing if one of these were to go off in say Israel for example, they would likely fly off the handle and start firing nukes. I think the true threat of such an instance would be met swiftly, and with real possibilities of entire countries being flattened if one were in its possession and could not be located.

If it were staggering numbers of these things distributed, that would be a game changer, but I wouldn't expect that these would be mass-produced and distributed, unless Pakistan really is trying to instigate WW3. Really though, who knows, I'm only speculating the what-if's.

Originally posted by InverseLookingGlass
I believe this is bogus in terms of a fissile device.

Here's why:
The critical mass for PU239 is about 10kg (22lbs). It's 20g /cubic cm in density.
conclusion: Not even close.

A tennis ball might be 15-20 cm*3 so maybe we are talking about 1kg of raw material.

Note to NSA analyst: I'm curious, that's it.

I think that most modern nuclear weapons use subcritical masses---the implosion generates a density higher than that which can be achieved at normal atmospheric pressures, and so the critical mass at that density is smaller. And they use tritium boosting to increase the number of neutrons at maximum density.

I still don't believe that a "tennis ball" size could do it, unless that was only the pit (still hard to believe), the weapon would still be substantially larger.

I don't see the strategic advantages of doing what they say. Suppose Pakistan makes good on its threats, the result is a total worldwide blockade on those nations for decades. What happens next is that the Taliban get a hold on some of them and use them to overthrow Pakistan's government.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by KnowledgeSeeker81

 

Who would the powers attack? Pakistan is an obvious one for having made them and if they distribute them. After that cat is out of the bag though, do you attack Pakistan again every time one of their little tennis balls of death blows up a city block somewhere?

Yes, of course.

You might even have bombers on airborne alert over Pakistan.

I sincerely hope they are just talking tough and making themselves sound more capable than they are. If they actually sent these out into the world like that, it'd be a nightmare trying to find and account for them all later.

If one talks tough, it's also a good idea to talk smart. Like thinking about the next consequence.

Interesting what Pakistanis have to say about this. They really do sound like Americans. Read the comments to this article.

topinfopost.com...

Nothing new. Israel has had baseball sized neutron devices for a couple of decades now and was aided by the US and France in its design. It is for close battle field use as it destroys enemy soldiers but leaves infrastructure completely intact.

reply to post by skuly


Can we now expect these weapons to be going off in Indian market places ? India already has so much problem keeping the Pakistani terrorist out of the country to stop them doing just this .
We can now expect these mini nukes going off in Bali night clubs . Someone has funded this research in Pak ....has anyone stated that yet as I have not read all the comments

reply to post by mbkennel

If one talks tough, it's also a good idea to talk smart. Like thinking about the next consequence.

Pakistan occupies an interesting position in world strategic affairs at the moment and it's far from that simple. I just recently read a story about China literally planning to tunnel UNDER Kashmir (literally... They aren't kidding or being figurative) to open a new major artery connection between Western China and the Indian Ocean. China and Pakistan have had war games and close cooperation between their militaries. It's not near as simple as it may once have been where that country is concerned, IMO.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Chinese access to Indian ocean is already there through Iran. You can take a train from Tehran to Beijing.

Any path through high Himalayas - whether road on tunnel, can be easily blocked. This is a high seismic area and road are difficult to maintain.

I have doubts about longevity of Pakistan as a State. It is facing a very serious challenge from domestic terrorism. The situation in Pakistan is no better than Iraq.

Pakistan is very likely to go to war with India, sort of like last stand against an implacable foe. The situation on the border is becoming unstable slowly. Mr Sharif is now PM, same guy who was PM when last war in Kargil was fought. India is perceived as weak under 9 years of a weak central government under Congress party. All things look good to Pakistan where thinking of the elite is that war with India is good.

The mentality in Pakistan/China is to box-in India by humiliation and to reduce India's strategic options. Increasing cooperation between US and India is being seen as a serious threat.

It is a very complex game as all three actors have nuclear weapons.

Pakistani leadership has a tendency to over-estimate its own capabilities and to engage in rash actions. I see this as a serious shortcoming of the Pakistani State.

There is a serious risk that Pakistan loses war against India, and then Pakistani State is quickly destroyed by domestic terrorism.

reply to post by GargIndia


I'm not sure what your point is here but I didn't bring up the tunnel under Kashmir as a guess or some wild idea I heard from a friend of a friend. This is a factual statement about something they *ARE* making and soon, by the look of it. So it doesn't much matter where you figure China uses Iran as a land route to the Sea.....and by the way, please show where China borders Iran?? My map missed that part. (?????)

Here is the article though, since it appears to suddenly be an item of question??

China to reconnect Kashmir with Kashghar

Tunnel in PoK among deals struck by China, Pak

China plans a 200 Kilometer long tunnel. I believe, the longest ever planned, let alone actually built and they intend to tunnel right UNDER Kashmir. Nice solution to the problem there I suppose. If you can't beat 'em, just bypass them entirely. Anyway.... I don't make this stuff up, I just relay what other countries announce for plans on projects signed and sealed as done deals.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


China can tunnel to anywhere they want. I am not refuting your point.

Just trying to say that Himalayas are seismically active, and tunneling under high Himalayas is not very smart.

The route from Iran to China goes through central asian states. This route is far easier to maintain.

An oil pipeline that starts in Iraq/Iran has two good routes to China - one that goes through central Asia to China. Second that crosses Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and into China.

China can always build the second route as well that passes on relatively flat ground, and security of the pipeline is not a problem.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yup! That tunnel is related to Gwadar.

reply to post by Hellmutt


It's certainly impressive, isn't it? China wants a little more power, so they build the largest dam the world has ever seen. They want to drive around more? They build a transportation network in a bit over a decade which it took the west several decades to make. Want an outlet to the Indian ocean? No problem... They'll just tunnel right under one of the most serious natural obstacles in the world with the largest/longest tunnel ever conceived.

China does tend to think very large scale and I do miss the time that our own nation thought in similar terms. We were still not on the scale China is for thinking big and then just going out and doing it but for time and technology to compare? I'd say we were pretty close for our time. (It's a shame the last couple Presidents have insured that's largely past tense. )

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Hellmutt

 

It's certainly impressive, isn't it? China wants a little more power, so they build the largest dam the world has ever seen. They want to drive around more? They build a transportation network in a bit over a decade which it took the west several decades to make. Want an outlet to the Indian ocean? No problem... They'll just tunnel right under one of the most serious natural obstacles in the world with the largest/longest tunnel ever conceived.

China does tend to think very large scale and I do miss the time that our own nation thought in similar terms. We were still not on the scale China is for thinking big and then just going out and doing it but for time and technology to compare? I'd say we were pretty close for our time. (It's a shame the last couple Presidents have insured that's largely past tense.

)

China has a labor force to do this. Cheap labor that can die without any stoppages. No unions to get in the way. Look at the "Big Dig" in Boston. It went like 10 billion over budget. They will shove 1,000,000 china men in the hole and not give a rats ass about them or there health. I think we will get back to building one day but no time soon

reply to post by jlafleur02


Coming back to Pakistan, we have started seeing trouble at the India/Pakistan border.

We need to see how far it goes. If things escalate, a war is possible in second half of 2014.

reply to post by GargIndia


Won't that mean use of nuclear weapons by Pakistan on India ?

a reply to: skuly

NPR has just released a documentary regarding the evolving of the US Navy from "Frogmen" to the infamous Navy Seals. The documentary depicted that during the Vietnam war the Seals of that time, could be outfitted with a backpack size nuclear device, that when detonated had the explosive energy 3X the Hiroshima bomb of 1945. The device was not ever used and removed from service.
Pakistan with its nuclear program and the willingness to unleash its arsenal against India in Kashmir, Dec 2001, has the potential to reduce their nuclear ordnance for e-z handling. With the US history of its drone program and collateral casualties inflicted in Pakistan, would it be possible for ISIS to purchase and deploy the WMD's from Pakistan?

Israel has these weapons as well. In fact has had them for several decades. Baseball sized neutron devices which suits them perfectly as a small country with possibly large invading armies. The baseball sized neutron bombs destroy troops but leave infrastructure unharmed.

originally posted by: princeofpeace
Baseball sized neutron devices which suits them perfectly as a small country with possibly large invading armies. The baseball sized neutron bombs destroy troops but leave infrastructure unharmed.

Baseball size? China has ping pong ball size neutron weapons!