None were ever functional, and couldnt be converted into any type of functional weapon, but they are still impressive as a conversation piece. Experts may quibble about the degree of probability, but not on the overall possibility that bin Laden may have acquired nuclear weapons. While Steve Jones and Judy Wood, among others, have added to uncertainty over what happened to the WTC buildings on 9/11, the mystery has finally been solved. They can last for many years if wired to an electric source. Scarcity of information notwithstanding, hindsight has its advantages, and a reassessment of available data can yield tangible results, especially utilizing new information about the state of the Russian nuclear weapons complex that has become available in the last five years. The fear is that a few may have ended up on the black market. 16, Moscow: PIR Center, 2001. There is also the eerie acronym, SADM, or Special Atomic Demolition Munitions. Quite shockingly, Lebed said that 100 of the Soviet stockpile were missing and unaccounted for. Tactical nuclear weapons compacts, small-yield atomic bombs that are not necessarily designed to be rained down on cities from bomber aircraft, nor delivered via Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, but could be an artillery shell,a nuclear torpedo, landmine, or other small and easily transportable devices. [25]Konstantin Eggert, General Lebed Nameren Naiti Yadernye Chemodanchiki,Izvestiya,October 7, 1997. views and opinions of Springfield Armory. We have believed since 9/11 that a Super Bowl at some date will be attacked before the final 'Wars and Rumors of . In hindsight, it is clear that statements made by both sides in the 1997-98 debate could have referred to different classes of nuclear devices. According to Lebed, portable devices were kept in republics around the perimeter of Soviet territory, which makes the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, and South Caucasus particularly suspicious from the point of view of control of portable nuclear devices (since the Soviet Union was geared for a war with NATO, it is likely that nuclear weapons intended for use by Spetsnaz forces would be kept close to borders with NATO). Above all, it is necessary to strengthen the effort to obtain additional information about suitcase nukes, including the types of small (portable) weapons and their status (eliminated or stored; whether any were lost; and the safety and security procedures applied to the ones that are still kept), as well as the possible performance of the ones that could have been stolen and remained hidden for long periods of time. These allegations are not new. This paper revisits open-source information about suitcase nukes to assess the level of threat stemming from the possibility that a number of them could have ended in the hands of terrorists or states that support them. Though no actual weapon was ever seen carried in a normal-sized suitcase or briefcase, the myth of such a weapon is one that has garnered much interest especially with the looming specter of a nuclear weapon rearing its ugly head again! In addition, a handful with carrying cases/launchers has been seen for sale by this reporter at the larger military collectibles shows. It is sufficient here to briefly list the most relevant factors for the case of portable nuclear devices: The situation is similar at production and dismantlement facilities, where components of warheads could be stolen by employees. Both the United States and the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons small enough to be portable in specially-designed backpacks during the 1950s and 1960s. [23]David Hoffman, Suitcase Nuclear Weapons Safely Kept, Russia Says,Washington Post, September 14, 1997, p. A23. His plan was to let Fayed and his terrorist cell take all the credit . It is practically certain that, contrary to recent (1999-2001) reports, no nuclear warheads could have been bought in Ukraine or Kazakhstan simply because there have been no reports about the presence of non-strategic nuclear weapons in their territories after 1992. It was fought between the United States of America, Russian Federation, and the People's Liberation and Resistance. These claims, too, were not corroborated by other sources or physical evidence. The weapon proved successful and was able to destroy an American-made M48A3, which certainly caused great concern for NATO. middletown press obituaries 2021 how many suitcase nukes are missing [15]National Report of the Russian Federation on the Implementation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, April 25, 2000; Statement of the Delegation of the Russian Federation at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 NPT Review Conference Under Article VI of the Treaty (New York), April 11, 2002. Sorry, an error occurred and we could not sign you up. The USA had a project called \"Project Gnome\". Retired Army Intelligence Col. John Alexander strongly downplays fears of buried nukes in the U.S. This is how the first nuclear device ever tested worked, and also the device which destroyed the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9,1945. The period between routine maintenanceonly six monthsmight seem very short, but short maintenance periods appear to be a typical feature of all Soviet warheads. That's where this post comes in. who died when a Russian helicopter in which he was flying as a passenger crashed in 2002. [24]The devices were reportedly stolen prior to the transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia and hidden there until sold to Chechnya. A suitcase nuclear device (also suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, mini-nuke and pocket nuke) is a tactical nuclear weapon which uses, or is portable enough that it could use, a suitcase as its delivery method. The first and only reliable line of defense against the acquisition or use of suitcase nuclear weapons by terrorists lies in the countries that possess such devices or have the capability to produce them. [17]M. Rastopshchin, Inzhenernyye Boepripasy,Tekhnika i Vooruzhenie,No. Carey Sublette, Steve Goldstein and Chris Mondics. It was the first man-portable ATGM deployed by the Soviet Army, and it was also among the most widely produced to date. It has been used in a number of conflicts and continues to see service in the ongoing civil wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen. In spite of official denials, there are sufficient grounds to believe that the Soviet Union had one or more types of portable nuclear devices. Yet another scenario offered by Denisovassembly of portable nuclear devices from parts forgotten outside Russiais the least believable. Most, if not all, portable nuclear warheads are equipped with some protection devices (e.g., PALs), making their unauthorized use difficult, though not completely impossible. Extremely small (as small as 5 inches (13cm) diameter and 24.4 inches (62cm) long) linear implosion type weapons, which might conceivably fit in a large briefcase or typical suitcase, have been tested, but the lightest of those are nearly 100 pounds (45kg) and had a maximum yield of only 0.19 kiloton (the Swift nuclear device, tested in Operation Redwing's Yuma test on May 27, 1956). Valynkins statement that one type of nuclear device mentioned by Lebed had been completely eliminated is an indirect corroboration of that hypothesis since all or almost all nuclear mines were eliminated during the 1990s. These apparently came from vintage stocks in the Czech Republic, Serbia and Bulgaria and were originally intended for assembly and loading drills. [31]Close personal relations among active-duty officers, and between them and retired officers, can facilitate access to inner security perimeters. [28]Arab Security Sources Speak of a New Scenario in Afghanistan: Secret Roaming Networks that Exchange Nuclear Weapons for Drugs,Al-Sharq al-Awsat, December 24, 2000, www.asharqalawsat.com. Alexander Lebed, that an unknown number of these weapons (possibly as many as several dozen) could not be accounted for. Though the 9M14 Malyutka continues to be employed by militaries around the world, it has yet to appear in any movies or TV series likely another reason why it is generally not as well known as the RPG or the TOW missile. Official and unofficial sources in 1997-98 asserted that the design of miniature nuclear devices was more complex than that of common warheads and could not be performed at home (thereby indirectly confirming that small devices did exist in the Soviet Union). Without intelligence to narrow down the search area, we would never find a suitcase nuke in time to prevent detonation. This appears a plausible explanation for Denisovs statement about the inability to locate warheads that had been kept outside Russia prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The claim, hotly denied by Russian authorities at the time, generated fears that the bombs may have fallen into the hands of terrorists. (Developed by SAIC) that can detect high-velocity spin-off particles from enriched uranium (necessary for nuclear devices). The power supply is often unreliable. They can strike the nucleus of a fissile atom and split it, yielding, again, energy and more neutrons. Though the Sagger hasnt had its close-up in a movie, the weapon has become popular with collectors in just the past year after a cache of Communist Block trainers hit the market. After the war, Israel and NATO spent years working on an effective doctrine against the Sagger, and it was determined the best option was to steer the tank away from an incoming missile to confuse the operator. The first two scenarios were implied by Denisov, while the third simply appears logical and requires attention. This action was motivated by the increasing risk that nuclear weapons might fall into the hands of various political movements that were rapidly developing at that time. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate. There are two important factors to consider when discussing nuclear terrorism. [9] More specifically, according to an investigation Lebed led during his time as acting secretary, it was concluded that 84 of these devices were unaccounted for. [26]Strobe Talbott,The Russia Hand(New York: Random House, 2002), p. 444 (fn. Suitcase Nukes have been a fascination of hollywood and spy television shows, as well as a concern for members of Congress throughout the Cold War and after. Among one of the most ominous even insidious pieces of military hardware developed during the Cold War was suitcase nuclear device. Since the end of the Cold War, weve traded a lot of secrets. The case is bundled into a leather bag alongside communications. It doesnt look like any kind of conventional weapon. True or not, the assertionwas taken seriouslyby the United States. Still, the probability of an insider job should be judged as remote. The widely used word suitcase is misleading since these devices were quite heavy (no less than 60 lb, probably considerably more), but they could have been moved by one, but more likely, two people. This method of assembling a supercritical mass is known as "two point linear implosion". It seems possible, for example, that Soviet designers balanced on the threshold, using only just enough plutonium to achieve critical mass and relied on tritium to generate required yield. and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
well yeah and Project Gnome was a normal PNE experiment as part of Operation Ploughshare. Suitcase nuke is one nickname for the devices. These devices may also called "suitcase nuclear device", "backpack nuke" or "pocket nuke". MYSTERY WIRE A Pakistani journalist who interviewed Osama bin Laden says the terrorist leader claimed to have his own nuclear and chemical capabilities. @Zsolt: If nuclear devices were detonated at WTC the plutonium would be detected. Wade confirms the U.S. built its own version of the suitcase nuke, a device known as a SADM. An Israeli military intelligence report, which was supposedly leaked, claimed that bin Laden paid over 2 million to a middleman in Kazakhstan for a suitcase bomb. Implosion devices do feature a subtype - those where the fissile mass is not crushed to many times its normal density as it is surrounded by bulky explosive lenses, but reshaped and compressed as it is imbedded in a cylindrical mass of explosives detonated at each end. Even as more advanced anti-tank weapons have been developed, the Sagger and numerous variations continue to be produced in China, North Korea, Iran and Serbia. [9] Granted to relevancy of the perceived threat of these suitcase nuclear bombs was reconsidered as Yablokov explained that if these weapons were developed in the 1970s, then the warheads would have needed to be replaced twice at that point, a possibility he could not guarantee. Shortly after the September 11th attacks, the CIA was worried about top-secret intelligence revealing missing Russian nuclear devices, the creation of suitcase nuclear bombs, and that al Qaeda was trying to purchase or build nuclear weapons. Congressman Weldon Fears Soviets Hid A-Bombs Across U.S. "Comments on Russia's Atomic Suitcase Bombs", "A Secret Warrior Leaves the Pentagon as Quietly as He Entered", "Eyes on target: 'Stay-behind' forces during the Cold War", "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004: Repeal of the 1994 act", "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004: Sec. [3]The other was made by Anton Surikov, an outspoken nationalist expert on defense issues and son of a leading figure in the Soviet military-industrial establishment, who said in an interview with the Estonian newspaperPostimeesin 1996 that in a scenario of NATO landing on the Russian Baltic Sea shores, Russia would resort to miniature nuclear weapons. Even if these devices exist outside of governmental control, they are unlikely to have remained serviceable, though the material they contained could perhaps be put to ill-use. According to Vladimir Denisov, the chair of the special commission established by Lebed in 1996 to account for suitcase nukes, the commission was able to account for the portable nuclear devices that had been present in the territory of Russia prior to 1990 or 1991, but could not vouch for the ones that could have remained in the territories of other former Soviet republics. Much like the American-made TOW, it was wire-guided at launch. This story originally aired on Nov. 12, 2001 on KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, NV. Both the circumstances of that transfer and the likelihood that reasonably complete records exist (even though they might be divided among several holders) lead to a conclusion that former republics of the Soviet Union are an unlikely source of unaccounted for suitcase nukes. These two point linear implosion devices are both very heavy and expensive. . Sources: In addition to being launched from its carrying case, it could be fired from a variety of Soviet-bloc Infantry Fight Vehicles (IFVs) such as the BMP and BRDM, as well as from certain helicopters such as the Mi-2 Hoplite, Mi-8 HIP, and Mi-24 Hind. As a scientist for Livermore labs, Troy Wade helped to assemble the atomic devices that were detonated at the Nevada Test Site in decades past. Consequently, the chance that any weapon entered in central logs remained in Ukraine is very low. In 1997, a former Soviet general, Alexander I. Lebed, gave an interview to60 Minutesin whichhe contendedthat the Soviet Union had created around 250 suitcase-sized portable nuclear weapons, similar to the United States B-54. An Exclusive NBC interview with Alexander Lebed, October 2, 1997, www.msnbc.com. However, it wasnt really until the advent of explosive reactive armor (ERA) and active protection systems that the threat from the Little One was finally addressed. The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly giveaways! This case demonstrated the length to which the Soviet MOD was prepared to go to prevent the seizure of nuclear weapons. certified instructor prior to handling any firearm and be sure to read your owners manual. A nuclear briefcase is a specially outfitted briefcase used to authorize the use of nuclear weapons and is usually kept near the leader of a nuclear weapons state at all times. Examples of such materials are certain isotopes of the elements uranium and plutonium. No warheads are missing, and Denisovs commission was simply unable to complete its job (Denisov admitted that the commission was, indeed, disbanded prematurely). The US had a standing offer during the cold war, possibly still in effect; This claim, however, was also uncorroborated by other sources or physical evidence.[29]. War, weve traded a lot of secrets Denisov, while the third simply appears logical and attention... 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