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  • #16
    Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
    I find the bolded bit counter-intuitive.

    TB runs three orders of magnitude cooler yet still wreaks more damage.
    If you think about the total energy produced by each weapon, the nuke produces a very concentrated hot spot and a lot of energetic radiation, the TB weapon produces a big distributed, non-radioactive destructive pulse (at a temperature many orders of magnitude lower, with much lower blast velocities - but still hot enough to destroy all life and destructive enough to wreck most structures). The TB weapon's blast is down on the ground and among the target objects. Most of the energy in the nuclear blast is wasted going up and outward in directions that don't do any additional damage to the enemy target (ground bursts are rarely considered with nukes due to the extreme radioactive fallout). So the same amount of energy is more efficiently used on the enemy by the TB weapon - of course a nuke can be much more powerful in terms of yield if so desired. Another difference is low long the weapon takes to deliver its energy, the nuke takes billionths of a sec, the TB takes 1000th's. The most import point is how powerful does the weapon need to be to do the job? A second critical question is "can a nuke be used"? The TB weapons is less politically controversial, so it can be used more readily, and it is less expensive - so more devices can be used. Since nukes can't normally be used, they are not very effective in most situations, strategic deterrence is the current for modern nukes. Lack of radiation and deadly fall out in the TB weapon also greatly simplifies occupations and other ground operations.
    Last edited by USSWisconsin; 19 Mar 12,, 02:16.
    sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
    If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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