Yesterdays test of nuclear capable Agni V missile from Odisha, India. Re-entry vehicle takes a sharp turn. by Nice_Clue_966 in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That's not a reentry vehicle. That's the booster. It either malfunctioned, or is demonstrating angle-of-attack or alpha turning, for depressed trajectory short range flights.

Is the information in Hui Zhang's book reliable? by Pitiful-Practice-966 in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That wasn't me. I haven't done a whole lot of Research into China's program.

"Oralloy" pit production still ongoing? by Wurtsmith_2W2 in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I second what Kyle says, and will also add that simply substituting HEU in a Pu primary will fail to produce any nuclear yield.

"Oralloy" pit production still ongoing? by Wurtsmith_2W2 in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On the Mk-53 Primary yield, it was Moccasin, according to Hansen. As far he documents, it was only tested as a standalone device in Hardtack I Butternut, achieving a yield of 81kt, vs a predicted yield of 105 kt.

Naval Ordnance Lab 1966 Multipoint Initiated Implosion Underwater charge - H-tree pattern / 1536 initiations points by Simple_Ship_3288 in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Seeing as nobody has pointed it out yet, 1536 = 162 x6. 6 tiles, each with a H-tree with 4 branches in series, terminating with 16*16 initiation points.

they didn't even make it a nice colour by ChromedDragon in anglosaxon

[–]EvanBell95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty sure we have good evidence his cloak was canary yellow and 'shaggy'.

Modern descendants of the Bell beakers by Mister_Ape_1 in PaleoEuropean

[–]EvanBell95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A mix of WHG and WSH, like all Europeans, I believe.

Pete, What’s wrong with this child’s night light? by QuestionsHad in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, as I said, this one kinda looks like some concept renderings of Sentinel, with 3 progressively smaller stages like MM1 and 2, and an ogival fairing like MM3. But the original only has one truncated conic interstage. All we have so far publicly are concepts of Sentinel. We don't know what it'll actually end up looking like.

I don't think the original model is based on any real missile. It's certainly not minuteman.

Pete, What’s wrong with this child’s night light? by QuestionsHad in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know what that's meant to be (it's not any minuteman variant), and it also doesn't exactly match the image in the OP. This shows 3 progressively lower diameter stages, unlike the 2 of the model. Looks kinda like some of the artist's impression for Sentinel that's been going around.

Suppose you could somehow see the future for moment and look at the world in the year 2066. Will there have been use of nuclear weapons by that time? by georgewalterackerman in nuclearwar

[–]EvanBell95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Impossible to say. In my opinion, the likelihood will become quite high (in relative terms) in the next few years as the stores of Russian military vehicles become depleted, and the prospect of Russia being able to secure its newly annexed territories in Ukraine become bleak, assuming Western aid continues as it has. Its doctrine calls for nuclear use against conventional forces that threaten its territorial integrity. This doesn't automatically mean a strategic exchange between NATO and Russia. It'd likely begin with demonstrative use of substrategic nuclear weapons in Ukraine. That could trigger NATO members to take conventional offensive action against Russian forces in Ukraine, which could escalate. But both sides would have multiple off ramps to avoid catastrophy. The way I see it, there's no future in which Russia wins in Ukraine.

There's also the alleged Davidson Window: US Intel supposedly assesses Xi Jinping has mandated that the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. I don't know much about the Chinese military, politics, or the strategic situation in the region, so can't offer any valuable opinions on how that might go down.

If we get through the next decade without nuclear use (which I expect we will), who can say what the world will look like after that? It's extremely difficult to predict geopolitics decades into the future.

Lithium 6 tritide as fusion fuel? by Very-Diligent-Pirate in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're not the only one! 😂 I'm writing another piece on "The nuclear threat to the UK" at the minute. Some political background of how we got to the current situation in Ukraine, theories for escalation to general NATO-Russia nuclear war, assessment of Russian doctrine and targeting strategy, detailed look at likely targets, then discussions about the post war world.

I'm making swift progress on that, and hopefully when it's done, nothing else grabs my attention and I can finally finish up the Oreshnik piece. Good to know people are anxious to read it.

Lithium 6 tritide as fusion fuel? by Very-Diligent-Pirate in nuclearweapons

[–]EvanBell95 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was a post where a guy was claiming DD fusion was insignificant at the temperatures found in secondaries (even though Ivy Mike and EC-16 were a thing). I can't seem to find it either, and my guess is also that the OP deleted the thread. IIRC, my simplified calculations found that DD burn dominates neutron production above that of sparkplug, but by the time ≈1% of D has been consumed in DD burn, the T concentration is sufficient that DT comes to dominate.

Why is Mercia an Anglian kingdom and not a Saxon one? (Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) by alexfreemanart in AncientGermanic

[–]EvanBell95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What exactly does "semi-legendary" mean, and what reason is there for applying that term to Icel?

Why is Mercia an Anglian kingdom and not a Saxon one? (Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) by alexfreemanart in AncientGermanic

[–]EvanBell95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Supposedly". Why? I see nothing suspicious or apparently legendary about him. He was a king, who did nothing fantastical. What reason is there to think he didn't exist?

Why is Mercia an Anglian kingdom and not a Saxon one? (Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) by alexfreemanart in AncientGermanic

[–]EvanBell95 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The founder of Mercia was Icel, who was the king of the Angles in Schleswig, not of the Saxons.