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From: yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Kissinger on Micronukes
Message-ID: <5550@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 11 Apr 89 05:23:18 GMT
References: <5515@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept, Rochester, NY
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From: yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi)
In article <5515@cbnews.ATT.COM> commgrp@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (BACS Data Communications Group) writes:
>military@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) writes:
>
>>...Henry Kissinger in one of his books used as an example of
>>how technology can suddenly change the political environment, a 
>>speculation of the effect of the development of a nuclear 
>>bullet...

>>...what if a highly-saturated slug of palladium can be forced 
>>into sudden fusion by impact...

>Erroneous though it may prove, it's fun to speculate during the 
>infancy of cold fusion (the year zero AF), after the fashion of Mary 
>Shelley et al in the age of frog-leg electronics.

Here's an idea: Variable-Yield Fusion Bullets

GDW has an interesting SF wargame called "The Bloodtree Rebellion".
One of the ideas in the game is that the infantry carries automatic
rifles which fire nuclear bullets whose charge be "dialed" from 0 (no
explosion) to something like .1kt.

So, just imagine a dial on each assault rifle magazine labelled
Deuterium Saturation, and your trooper can dial one setting to take
out a sniper, another to take out a tank, and yet another to take out
a tank *battalion*.

(An interesting rule in the aforementioned game is that if an infantry
unit is ambushed, the soldiers may panic and use "high-dial" fire --
which has the effects of (1) usually annihilating the enemy, (2)
turning forest terrain into clear terrain, and (3) making the local
natives *really* angry.)

>Frank
>reid@gold.bacs.indiana.edu

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Brian Yamauchi				University of Rochester
yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu		Computer Science Department
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