Layarteb
29-01-2007, 02:41
OOC: Secret IC.
For years and years, the military, in conjunction with the Layartebian Defense Corporation, had been working on two weapon systems that were considered, at the time they were thought of, to be revolutionary. At the time the ideas were first floated, they were feasible but not attainable. Now, 12 years into the development program, they were. It was a long but not costly program that set out to create two weapon systems, one conventional and one nuclear, with the capability to achieve a specific and extremely tactical goal.
The goal of the conventional weapon was the utter and complete destruction of a single building, regardless of size but not to cause excessive collateral damage. Such a weapon system would require unprecedented accuracy and a highly powerful warhead, to which many options were considered, a thermobaric-type warhead being ultimately decided upon when the weapon system went into the prototype phase.
The goal of the nuclear weapon was the utter and complete destruction of a hardened, underground bunker. Conventional munitions using the BLU-122/B warhead were entirely capable of destroying deeply buried, hardened targets but weren't capable of taking out the most heavily reinforced bunkers, especially those buried beyond the limits of the BLU-122/B, which could penetrate up to 20 feet of reinforced concrete, 30 feet of rock, or 100 feet of earth. Maximum overpressure was needed in order to destroy some of the most heavily fortified bunkers underground. Unfortunately, most of those bunkers were buried underneath rock and deeper than 100 feet. There were two problems as well with these bunkers. Bunkers buried deeply in earth were in a medium that did not transmit shock as well as rock or concrete and bunkers buried under rock were extremely difficult to hit or destroy. A direct strike would be impossible; therefore, they would need to get as close to the bunker as possible, especially if it were in an earth medium. Unfortunately, the most they could penetrate with the B61 Mod 11 Thermonuclear bomb was only 20 feet of earth, which wasn't enough. There were several problems with radiation as well. Despite being a low yield weapon, a bunker busting thermonuclear bomb would still need to be in excess of 850 feet deep in order to completely contain a low yield blast of 10 kilotons. That was impossible to obtain. Even subkiloton yields required excessive depths that were just unattainable. In addition, the explosion would eject over 1 million cubic feet of radioactive debris, which could shower down far away.
Development of both weapon systems, codenamed "Implosion" for the conventional and "Earthquake" for the nuclear continued for 12 years. In late 2006, the final prototypes were almost ready. The "Implosion" weapon was mated to a JDAM II weapon with a CEP of 4 feet or less and could be guided from 15 miles away. However, to achieve the best results, the bomb would have to be dropped at an angle of 75° or greater on the target. An ideal hit was a 90° strike on the roof of the target building, allowing the bomb to penetrate through the building, into the basement. The closer the angle was to 90, the better the chance of the bomb remaining in the target structure. If it was too shallow an angle, the bomb could pass through the target and into another target, creating unnecessary collateral damage. Therefore, the bomb would have to be delivered from high-altitude, very close to the target. The targetting computer inside of the dropping aircraft would calculate the proper release time and would have to automatically release the bomb. The pilot could release it on his own but the chance of the bomb being dropped too soon or too late was a large one. The computer could react much quicker and without fail. The bomb would be released from the aircraft and a retardation parachute deployed, in order to place the bomb at a 90° down-angle over the target. The GPS inside of the bomb would determine its position and its fins would adjust once the parachute was released. From there, the bomb would fall, straight down, achieving maximum speed before its powerful, gel-fueled rocket motor fired. That would push the missile to 2.24 kilometers per second, 5,000 mph, or 7,333 feet per second. At such a velocity, the bomb would be like a missile. It was a particularly strong case, constructed mostly out of tungsten and other hard metals. It had the ability to penetrate through 300 feet of reinforced concrete without effort. In the case of a building, it could penetrate through almost any building, straight through to the basement. A delayed fuse would detonate the warhead, an 800 pound thermobaric explosive in the case of a heavier version and an 85 pound thermobaric explosive in the case of a light version.
The same information was being used in development of the "Earthquake" weapon, though, because of the nature of its use, it would not be able to achieve the same penetration results as the "Implosion" weapon. The "Earthquake" weapon would only be able to pierce through about 150 feet of reinforced concrete, 200 feet of earth, or 60 feet of rock. It wouldn't be nearly enough to house a 10 kiloton warhead but it would be enough to send sufficient shock waves through the ground, into a bunker. The "Earthquake" weapon was not going to be able to be buried deeply enough into the earth to completely contain any radiation, sadly, but it would be able to be buried deeply enough to destroy even the most hardened bunkers with a fraction of the force that would be required for an air burst. The weapon would have four yield options, 700 tons, 10 kilotons, 80 kilotons, or 340 kilotons, to be set depending on the size of the target that they were facing. VIP bunkers, command bunkers, missile bases, and underground storage bunkers would be best annihilated with the 340 kiloton yield. Even bunkers that were capable of withstanding up to 9 megaton air bursts would not be able to survive 340 kiloton subterranean bursts.
There were several tests that were still required. There would be inert drops of all three weapons, the light and heavy "Implosion" bombs and the "Earthquake" bomb to see how deeply they could penetrate and how well their guidance systems worked. All three weapons would be guided by the same guidance system, the WGU-118A GPS guidance kit, which would enable the weapons to hit their targets with unparalleled precision.
For years and years, the military, in conjunction with the Layartebian Defense Corporation, had been working on two weapon systems that were considered, at the time they were thought of, to be revolutionary. At the time the ideas were first floated, they were feasible but not attainable. Now, 12 years into the development program, they were. It was a long but not costly program that set out to create two weapon systems, one conventional and one nuclear, with the capability to achieve a specific and extremely tactical goal.
The goal of the conventional weapon was the utter and complete destruction of a single building, regardless of size but not to cause excessive collateral damage. Such a weapon system would require unprecedented accuracy and a highly powerful warhead, to which many options were considered, a thermobaric-type warhead being ultimately decided upon when the weapon system went into the prototype phase.
The goal of the nuclear weapon was the utter and complete destruction of a hardened, underground bunker. Conventional munitions using the BLU-122/B warhead were entirely capable of destroying deeply buried, hardened targets but weren't capable of taking out the most heavily reinforced bunkers, especially those buried beyond the limits of the BLU-122/B, which could penetrate up to 20 feet of reinforced concrete, 30 feet of rock, or 100 feet of earth. Maximum overpressure was needed in order to destroy some of the most heavily fortified bunkers underground. Unfortunately, most of those bunkers were buried underneath rock and deeper than 100 feet. There were two problems as well with these bunkers. Bunkers buried deeply in earth were in a medium that did not transmit shock as well as rock or concrete and bunkers buried under rock were extremely difficult to hit or destroy. A direct strike would be impossible; therefore, they would need to get as close to the bunker as possible, especially if it were in an earth medium. Unfortunately, the most they could penetrate with the B61 Mod 11 Thermonuclear bomb was only 20 feet of earth, which wasn't enough. There were several problems with radiation as well. Despite being a low yield weapon, a bunker busting thermonuclear bomb would still need to be in excess of 850 feet deep in order to completely contain a low yield blast of 10 kilotons. That was impossible to obtain. Even subkiloton yields required excessive depths that were just unattainable. In addition, the explosion would eject over 1 million cubic feet of radioactive debris, which could shower down far away.
Development of both weapon systems, codenamed "Implosion" for the conventional and "Earthquake" for the nuclear continued for 12 years. In late 2006, the final prototypes were almost ready. The "Implosion" weapon was mated to a JDAM II weapon with a CEP of 4 feet or less and could be guided from 15 miles away. However, to achieve the best results, the bomb would have to be dropped at an angle of 75° or greater on the target. An ideal hit was a 90° strike on the roof of the target building, allowing the bomb to penetrate through the building, into the basement. The closer the angle was to 90, the better the chance of the bomb remaining in the target structure. If it was too shallow an angle, the bomb could pass through the target and into another target, creating unnecessary collateral damage. Therefore, the bomb would have to be delivered from high-altitude, very close to the target. The targetting computer inside of the dropping aircraft would calculate the proper release time and would have to automatically release the bomb. The pilot could release it on his own but the chance of the bomb being dropped too soon or too late was a large one. The computer could react much quicker and without fail. The bomb would be released from the aircraft and a retardation parachute deployed, in order to place the bomb at a 90° down-angle over the target. The GPS inside of the bomb would determine its position and its fins would adjust once the parachute was released. From there, the bomb would fall, straight down, achieving maximum speed before its powerful, gel-fueled rocket motor fired. That would push the missile to 2.24 kilometers per second, 5,000 mph, or 7,333 feet per second. At such a velocity, the bomb would be like a missile. It was a particularly strong case, constructed mostly out of tungsten and other hard metals. It had the ability to penetrate through 300 feet of reinforced concrete without effort. In the case of a building, it could penetrate through almost any building, straight through to the basement. A delayed fuse would detonate the warhead, an 800 pound thermobaric explosive in the case of a heavier version and an 85 pound thermobaric explosive in the case of a light version.
The same information was being used in development of the "Earthquake" weapon, though, because of the nature of its use, it would not be able to achieve the same penetration results as the "Implosion" weapon. The "Earthquake" weapon would only be able to pierce through about 150 feet of reinforced concrete, 200 feet of earth, or 60 feet of rock. It wouldn't be nearly enough to house a 10 kiloton warhead but it would be enough to send sufficient shock waves through the ground, into a bunker. The "Earthquake" weapon was not going to be able to be buried deeply enough into the earth to completely contain any radiation, sadly, but it would be able to be buried deeply enough to destroy even the most hardened bunkers with a fraction of the force that would be required for an air burst. The weapon would have four yield options, 700 tons, 10 kilotons, 80 kilotons, or 340 kilotons, to be set depending on the size of the target that they were facing. VIP bunkers, command bunkers, missile bases, and underground storage bunkers would be best annihilated with the 340 kiloton yield. Even bunkers that were capable of withstanding up to 9 megaton air bursts would not be able to survive 340 kiloton subterranean bursts.
There were several tests that were still required. There would be inert drops of all three weapons, the light and heavy "Implosion" bombs and the "Earthquake" bomb to see how deeply they could penetrate and how well their guidance systems worked. All three weapons would be guided by the same guidance system, the WGU-118A GPS guidance kit, which would enable the weapons to hit their targets with unparalleled precision.