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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: A High Tech Maginot Line
Message-ID: <6229@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 14-Dec-85 19:10:24 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.6229
Posted: Sat Dec 14 19:10:24 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Dec-85 19:10:24 EST
References: <8512020718.AA15110@s1-b.arpa>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 17

> > I recall that the war-head in a cruise missile weighs about 350 pounds.
> 
> I talked with a friend in the warhead business (about 7 *YEARS* ago).
> At that time they were working on a cannon shell nuclear warhead.
> About 8 *INCHES* in diameter and not very long.  I am sure the state of
> the art has impoved since then.  He thought 4 inch shells were possible.
> I wonder how much of that 350 pounds is not involved in the act of
> explosion?

You should have asked your friend how *heavy* those warheads were.  6-inch
nuclear shells do exist; I don't think anyone has done a 4-inch one, but it
could probably be built if one tried hard enough.  But nuclear warheads are
very dense.  Still, man-portable ones do exist -- the cruise-missile
warhead is not particularly small or light as nuclear explosives go.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry