Nuclear Deterrent

[forthbridge]

The whole thing is an exercise in futility.
Not that this matters to the politicians - they demonstrated their regard for the electorate by spending tens of millions of pounds on a system to let me know that I was going to be instantly vapourised in four minutes' time - MikeW

This is sobering. Even more so when one remembers getting it taught at School: :o
http://www.cybertrn.demon.co.uk/atomic/

Talking of fultility, some of the instructions/advice were absolutely to 'give the impression' as opposed to actually being any good. As if a couple of old doors beneath a staircase would make any difference......

[jonesey2k]

Tbh the people killed in the blast would be the lucky ones. I remember watching a drama called Threads or Strings or something and it was scary stuff.....


I'm currently playing Fallout 3 btw

[forthbridge]

Tbh the people killed in the blast would be the lucky ones. I remember watching a drama called Threads or Strings or something and it was scary stuff.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads

I'm currently playing Fallout 3 btw

Turn the tranny off now Jonesey! Tune in in 1 hour. Conserve you batteries and remember, there is nothing to be gained from leaving your home! ;-)

[SkippyBing]

, those at the top had the sense to realise the futility of it all

To be honest I don't credit them with that much intelligence.

[DispatchDragon]

had the greatest admiration for the crews who, if they lifted off, may not have had anywhere to land on return

My parent's had a good friend who was a Victor Captain in the mid 60s - we talked about the Psychology of V crews - If Mike was to be believed
one of the things that was discussed amongst active crews was -- "If you became airborne on that day and after departure you knew that there was
nothing go back to....???? " The answer seems to have been a bit "Failsafe-ish" --- continue to target and descend to detonation altitude.
Secondly I remember in the closing years of the "coldwar" My oldest brither who was at the time serving in the hole at Wycombe made an interesting
statement - if the unthinkable happened and the scenario became a Soviet invasion through the Fulda Gap, who would be in charge -- His answer was
"Some young Flight lieutant at 75foor over Fulda in a Tonk with two shapes on board ---- I Didnt even know the Tonk could carry Tactical nukes. :000:



Leif

And finally I understand from another relation who is currently "oversea's" on Nimrods - that the cold war is not as dead as many woudl belive

[emfrat]

Tbh the people killed in the blast would be the lucky ones. I remember watching a drama called Threads or Strings or something and it was scary stuff.....


I'm currently playing Fallout 3 btw

This was the one to see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
except we weren't allowed, in case it scared us. Eventually I was able to see it in a private cinema in Dundee (the old 'Tiv' IIRC) a bit over a year after we first got to hear of it. The heavy-handed attempt at censorship just gave it lots of street cred, or whatever expression my generation used for that.
A few years back I discovered I could buy the DVD from the British Film Institute, and was just as outraged the second time round - not at the awful scenes depicted in the film, but at the arrogance and stupidity of those in power who wanted only to conceal their ineptitude and tried to do so by banning the film.

MikeW

[cstorey]

[
And finally I understand from another relation who is currently "oversea's" on Nimrods - that the cold war is not as dead as many woudl belive

Indeed not. I understand that the rate of TU95 incursions down the North Sea increased to the levels of 20 years ago during this summer and autumn.

However, it may be that the Bear ( no pun intended in view of the NATO codeword) is running out of money again, in which case they may decrease in number once more

[Chris Sykes]

I Didnt even know the Tonk could carry Tactical nukes. :000:

Yep, Tonkas, Jags, Buccs all were able to carry the WE177 Tactical Nukes... Last RAF Sortie with a Nuke was 1998 IIRC...

I find it a bit scarry reading and listening to everything about the possibilities of all out nuclear war, just reading those shelters guids etc just asks the question of whats the point and is there a chance after?

[speedbird591]

I was 16 when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. That's considered to be the closest that the World has ever come to nuclear war and those of us who are old enough to remember it will also remember the desperate feeling of unfairness that we should have our lives snatched away before they had begun. It was a frighteningly sad time and reading those pathetic Government handouts brings back all the frustration, anger and fear. Thanks a lot!!!

Leif develops the scenario of one small cog in the machine finding himself as the sole decider of man's fate. This did actually happen in 1962 but didn't become known until 2002. This quote from Wiki:

Arguably the most dangerous moment in the crisis was unrecognized until the Cuban Missile Crisis Havana conference in October 2002, attended by many of the veterans of the crisis, at which it was learned that on October 26, 1962 the USS Beale had depth-charged an unidentified submarine which was in fact Soviet and armed with nuclear weapons. An argument broke out among the three commanders with Vasiliy Arkhipov being against their use. He is thus credited with averting the breakout of nuclear war at that moment.

And don't underestimate the contribution of one Speedbird591 who joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and marched around Tunbridge Wells tanked up on bottles of brown ale and singing protest songs. That made them sit up and think, I can tell you!

Ian

[airboatr]

And don't underestimate the contribution of one Speedbird591 who joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and marched around Tunbridge Wells tanked up on bottles of brown ale and singing protest songs. That made them sit up and think, I can tell you!
Ian

the singing ? or the tanked upedness of the singer.. :drinkers:

btw
The Panama Canal has been opened to Everyone including the Ruskies (first time since dubya dubya 2)
so things may get a little touchy , My advice to them is ...enjoy the scenery ,, but lets keep a move on .......
remember.. we have a Guvnor who can see Russia from her House!


:roll: