The B53 wasn’t just any old megabomb. It was the first bunker buster. U.S. nuclear doctrine called for it to be delivered over suspected underground Soviet command-and-control facilities. The dumb bomb wouldn’t destroy them so much as it would destroy everything remotely near it, leaving — literally — a smoldering crater. That was the U.S. plan for “victory” in a nuclear war right up until the implosion of the Soviet Empire. (related) [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Oct 25, 2011 - 75 comments

The Unabomber was right. Kevin Kelly explains.
posted by telstar on Feb 26, 2009 - 76 comments

While the tragedy of the bombing in Bali was bad enough, evidence has surfaced that the bomb was incorrectly assembled, resulting in less than 1/3 of the device exploding (bare-bones link). Experts using computer modelling have worked out the net explosive quantity of the vehicle bomb outside the Sari Club was between 150kg and 300kg – as opposed to a potential 1150kg and that the toll could have been in the thousands had the bomb exploded as planned.
posted by dg on Oct 1, 2003 - 12 comments

Pentagon readies microwave bomb for Baghdad There go the blogs in Iraq! Might be worthwhile going to war just to test this new toy, says one cynic, the poster of this link.
posted by Postroad on Nov 18, 2002 - 20 comments