north korea detonates a nuke

[yeti]

Minuteman III was MIRV'ed with three W-78 each with a yield of 335 kilotons - some of the older III's had three W-62's with a punch of 170 kilotons. Both are carried in the Mk-12 RV, but the W-78 versions are based on an improved Mk-12A block.

The III's are currently being de-MIRV'ed ("downloaded" in the actual term) to carry one W-78/Mk-12A. The W-62 is not very safe comparatively speaking so it is being phased out first. Most of the remaining W-78's will be replaced with a single Mk-21 RV from the deactivated Peacekeeper force (the W87 is ever safer than the 78, younger, and can be upgraded to 475 kilotons). Plus, the Mk-21 is more accurate than the 12A - it is faster, smaller, and carries more advanced penetration aids.

The Titan 2 carried a W53 (I think maybe it was the W58) warhead with a yield of about 9 megatons. It was never a counterforce weapon - it was a city killer - meant to deter by the lethal threat it posed to population, and good riddance to it.

As far as North Korea goes.... we will do absolutely nothing about their test.

[BrockVond]

Make the East Asia. My sense of direction sucks :)

Appears that the blast was < 1 kiloton. Would seem that ole Kim Jong may have shot his load a bit prematurely.

China's last underground test was 1 kiloton.

[BigKahuna13]

Make the East Asia. My sense of direction sucks :)

Appears that the blast was < 1 kiloton. Would seem that ole Kim Jong may have shot his load a bit prematurely.

China's last underground test was 1 kiloton.

In the Times article I read a former chief nuclear weapons type of ours who noted that typically first detonations are in the 10-60 kiloton range. He was guessing that the small yield indicated that the test was only partially successful. The North may have purposefully kept the yield that small but that's apparently not the way it's normally done. Of course expecting normal out of the North Korean government is probably asking too much.

Don't know anything about the subject but it would seem to me that with a small yield bomb like that the goal probably isn't to test the bomb as a whole but some refinement to a specific component. Given that it kind of
makes sense for a first test to yield something closer to what a real weapon would.

[yeti]

It is hard to say. Maybe they were testing a primary. Maybe it fizzled. Maybe it was a small design.

Full yield tests are a comment on either the manufacturers test and design sophistication or their political aims.

We currently don't test new designs by blowing them up any more. There is no need. We can model the whole thing in computer simulations. We still do conduct sub critical detonations however. If the actual results gel with the predicted ones, then we are good to go.

[SkiDork]

It is hard to say. Maybe they were testing a primary. Maybe it fizzled. Maybe it was a small design.

Full yield tests are a comment on either the manufacturers test and design sophistication or their political aims.

We currently don't test new designs by blowing them up any more. There is no need. We can model the whole thing in computer simulations. We still do conduct sub critical detonations however. If the actual results gel with the predicted ones, then we are good to go.

But a computer sim doesn't have nearly the same impact as the real thing does...

Personally (and I admit I don't know squazzule about schnizzle) I think they just tested a _REALLY TINY_ bomb...

[yeti]

This is why a country would choose to test - mainly to make a statement about their prowess and to intimidate.

This tactic tends to work much better when the bomb isn't a dud..... oops!

[XtremeJibber2001]

This is why a country would choose to test - mainly to make a statement about their prowess and to intimidate.

This tactic tends to work much better when the bomb isn't a dud..... oops!

How far under ground do you think they would be to do such a test?

[BrockVond]

Make the East Asia. My sense of direction sucks :)

Appears that the blast was < 1 kiloton. Would seem that ole Kim Jong may have shot his load a bit prematurely.

China's last underground test was 1 kiloton.

In the Times article I read a former chief nuclear weapons type of ours who noted that typically first detonations are in the 10-60 kiloton range.

Yeah , I saw that too. Technically, he's correct. India and Pakistan ( the last two to test and announce before North Korea) reported that they tested at 12 and 9, respectively. But the key phrase is "reported". Both were estimated to have a yield much lower than reported, with India's first test estimated to be somewhere between 4 and 6 kilotons. I forget what the estimate on Pakistan was, but I can look it up later.

[yeti]

It is widely suspected that one of the shots in Pakistan back in 98 - announced as a Pakistani test, was acutally a North Korean weapon, or a North Korean design built with Pak uranium (NK's program currently relies on plutonium).