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

Originally posted by skuly
Only those in the military will think this is a good idea the rest of us on the other
hand might think handy pocket size nukes is a bad one.

Yes, because the military just loves the idea of nuclear war. They're so desperate to push the button that will wipe out their families, and potentially millions of people that it's not even funny. [/sarcasm]

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.

reply to post by InverseLookingGlass
well it could be done not as a A bomb or a H bomb but as a neutron bomb www.cartage.org.lb... from the link

Neutron Bombs

Neutron bombs, more formally referred to as "enhanced radiation (ER) warheads", are small thermonuclear weapons in which the burst of neutrons generated by the fusion reaction is intentionally not absorbed inside the weapon, but allowed to escape. This intense burst of high-energy neutrons is the principle destructive mechanism. Neutrons are more penetrating than other types of radiation so many shielding materials that work well against gamma rays do not work nearly as well. The term "enhanced radiation" refers only to the burst of ionizing radiation released at the moment of detonation, not to any enhancement of residual radiation in fallout.

further on

To produce a 1 kt fusion yield 12.5 g of tritium and 5 g of deuterium are required.

so yes a baseball/ tennis ball size weapon could be made, short shelf life, and decays at a rate of 5.5% a year. never say it can not be done, for there are some that will do it just to prove it can be, and they Pakistan are... shall I dare say, fanatic enough to do it. even a golf ball sized one could be made, big enough to hit a stadium, that is scary in it self.
Now I know there are you that think no not so, or BS.... think out side of the box, the US said the same thing about Russia and China til, they tested one. The Tars Bomb was though to be fiction til, it was dropped.... 3 stage weapons, ER er Neutron bombs all si fi until proven fact.

Not surprising in the least.

A nuclear tennis ball a terrorists best weapon, and given the hatred by Pakistan on to other countries in the west.

This is a recipe for disaster. strap a few of those on drones, and sucide bombers are a thing of the past.

For those who don't know Pakistan is the only armed nuclear islamic state that does have a large radical element.

Anything that small would be a tactical nuclear weapon that can pretty much vaporize a few city blocks sold to other terrorist organizations in the world ?

The doomsday clock just ticked forward.

The next would be a minigun that shoot small nukes
we are on the way to perfection

reply to post by skuly


Holy crap that is terrifyingly irresponsible!

When is enough enough?

Don't know about all the technical jargon here but what im reading is f#*@%£# scary!!!!

Is that more directed towards India then anybody else because haven't we been droning them for quite a bit of time now? Wouldn't that have enacted their protocols already to distribute their smarts into Asia and Africa?

It works like this

Good for them.

Why is it when The west or even Israel develops new weapons it's regarded as a breakthrough in scientific research but when countries like Iran, Pakistan or even China develops new weapons everyone starts worrying and crying rogue state etc?

Originally posted by neo96
A nuclear tennis ball a terrorists best weapon, and given the hatred by Pakistan on to other countries in the west.

Pakistan was actually a pro-west country until 9/11, thanks to the foreign policy of the US.

reply to post by bekod

one has to ask, is the DPRK involved in this? if so could this be Un's miniature nukes. Pakistan and DPRK have a weapons trade agreement fpc.state.gov...*.pdf in any case this is not good for any mid east peace, any one that has ties to Pakistan, can get a nuke now.

Firstly, Pakistan is not in the Middle East. They have nothing to do with ME politics. And secondly, no, Saudi Arabia; Pakistan's greatest 'friend' asked Pakistan for Nuclear assistance and Pakistan refused.

Last I heard there had to be a critical mass of fissionable material ,a reflector to insure completion of the fission process and a very intricate and carefully shaped explosive to collapse a sphere of fissionable material to critical mass . Then there is the safety devices and firing mechanism . The Red Mercury is supposed to used to trigger bomb fusion weapons . The nuclear scientist declared Red Mercury to be a hoax . And most likely so is this claim .

Ok. Ill go...isnt there some explosives IN a nuclear weapon that has to cause the explosion? I know the chain reaction is key...but how much of what kind of explosives that would be significant...COULD be in a tennis ball size nuke? Plastique?

I mean a nuke just doesnt tblow itself up, rt? It has to have dynamite, plastique, fertilizer, gunpower...SOMETHING to make the blast.

I think a lot of people think a nuke is the explosion. Isnt it the EXPLOSIVES that the nukes chain reaction cause to blow??? Would something that small be enough? Could you get nitro or soemthing in a small object and cause a nuke blast???????????

Hoax
The smallest the US was able to make was the size of a soccer ball and had the yield of about .001 KT.
and this weapon had no safeties plus it was a very dirty bomb because the nuclear pit was to small to fission completely.
these were never a in service weapon system.

This is the next size bigger weapons that were put in service
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

The device size is limited by the conventional explosive needed to crunch the nuclear pit with enough power to cause fission. and all the components needed to fire this.

Since no one has invented a new super conventional explosive of the type that could be used in a nuclear device this is the reason i call hoax.

Plus Pakistan has never tested a small weapon like this.

I believe this is a bluff to scare other countries into believing Pakistan has a small Suicide bomber size nuclear weapons.

reply to post by skuly


And they are worried about Iran ?!?! Just this brilliant idea if true would be enough to pass several UN sanctions against Pakistan. In any case this is something that was expected and why the US and Russia/China should have been more careful about nuclear proliferation the ball started rolling when Israel and India were permitted nuclear weapons after than all the blame game is just hypocrisy...

North Korea’s last nuclear test on Feb. 11 was described as a miniaturized atomic bomb of six-seven kilotons mounted on a Nodong missile, technology brought to Pakistan from North Korea by Khan in the early 1990’s.

'Father' of Pakistan's atomic bomb doubts North Korea will deploy nukes

The next high impact attack will probably be some sneak attack with a WMD but one should understand that it will be just the chickens coming back to rooster. Conventional war is over and all nations understand that today...

reply to post by ANNED


I remember a US developed nuclear mortar if I got a good sense of the size the nuke was a bit larger than todays RPGs and this was sometime in the 60's...

[Did a search for you all...]

Davy Crockett (nuclear device)

reply to post by mysterioustranger


It has C4 in hexagon shaped panels that surround the fissile material. The C4 has to detonate almost perfectly to compress the core, and start a chain reaction. Something the size of a tennis ball wouldn't have much of a core, or much C4 to cause a chain reaction.

A nuclear device could be a temporary flash of radiation emitting neutron radiation . That might be possible to affect a small area and kill anyone in the area .This has been around for years . No explosion , just radiation

Well the answer to this is obvious. Continue sanctioning Iran to stop them from obtaining nuclear power/research.

I mean, without priorities, the world would run wild.

reply to post by ANNED

Since no one has invented a new super conventional explosive of the type that could be used in a nuclear device this is the reason i call hoax. Plus Pakistan has never tested a small weapon like this.

Can you prove this. How would you know!

Remember that smaller countries tend to develop more affordable munitions. Perhaps they have an inventor who has invented something new. There are more than two ways to make a nuke go bang.

P