I found a couple of these in a storage room of the RNS underground bunkers. Anyone know what they are?
These damn tunnels go on for miles. Someday I'm gonna have to catalog all of these stupid warheads that are just lying around. I shot one at the Madman during a wintertime snowball fight, but otherwise they just lay around, collecting dust. I'm thinking it might be time to re-commission a couple, especially if North Korea keeps acting all crazy and stuff.
Posted by Neal (Nukevet) at March 16, 2003 07:51 PM | TrackBackVague memories, just off the top of my head, the Warhead and nosecone to a Pershing II short range missile. I'm not certain, but that's the name that leaps to mind. Deployed by the army in western Europe during the cold war. I am certain it's an army missile warhead though. If not a Pershing, possibly a Lance. From the quality of the picture I'd say vintage 65 to 85.
Few reference pictures were printed in black and white after the early eighties. Probably no longer in service.
It's a weapon of mass destruction!
Call in Mr Blix!
;)
Posted by: harmonia on March 17, 2003 03:57 AMClose, Harm.
It's a weapon of mass killing, but NOT a weapon of mass destruction.......
Posted by: Neal on March 17, 2003 07:35 AMIt looks like a Sprint or HIBEX ABM. I'd say Sprint. A very, very cool missile.
Posted by: Anna on March 17, 2003 07:50 AMI'll defer to Anna on this. It's been a long time since I used to pay real attention to it. My bad.
Posted by: puggs on March 17, 2003 07:55 AMI was hoping Anna would comment on this so I could add some cool links to my bookmarks. At least I got the age of the system about right. Since few ABM's were deployed, and this one never was, I feel a little better.
Hat's off to Anna.
Posted by: puggs on March 17, 2003 08:14 AMSorry Neil, I forgot our bombs are good but theirs are bad, must be a victim of that evil French propaganda again.
Posted by: harmonia on March 17, 2003 08:55 AMRead the comment again, Harm - I said it is a weapon of mass killing, but not mass destruction.
Anna has it right - it is a Sprint class warhead.
And it is probably one of the deadliest little inventions around - it kills by both the nuclear blast and a stream of high velocity Neutrons - one of the so-called "neutron bombs".
Harm - did you have your sense of humor surgically removed, or is it a congenital thing?
neil that was a joke, where did you lose your sense of humour?
I will put a ;) every time a do a funny from now on.
;)
Posted by: harmonia on March 17, 2003 10:42 AMSprint ABM, mid 1960s. 100 gee acceleration off the launch rail- 0 to 60 in 30 milliseconds; in 1964 my dad was a US Army air defense artilleryman, in line to be a Sprint missile batallion commander. Shame it didn't become operational.
Sure would be nice to have some of these on ships off the coast of North Korea about now, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Grizzled_Wrenchbender on March 17, 2003 10:09 PMHey, if this post is still relevant, I'd like to add a note. If the first stage were tubular, rather than conical, that picture really does look like a Pershing II. The PII was also considered for an enhanced radiation warhead. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that both missiles have a common heritage.
So puggs: your post was certainly in the right ballpark. Given the CEP of ballistic missiles, that's close enough.
Posted by: Anna on March 18, 2003 10:33 PMYep. Thats a Nike-Sprint ABM. It was to have a noo-cu-lar warhead.
Posted by: DustPuppy on March 21, 2003 02:06 PM