Russian "Nuclear Exercise" and "Nuclear" Air to Air Missiles?

Russian "Nuclear Exercise" and "Nuclear" Air to Air Missiles? 
Copyright 2024 by Michael H. Maggelet

Recent news articles cite Russian news reports of ongoing "nuclear drills" and Putin's threats, which is nothing surprising given the continual exercising of Soviet forces in eastern Europe during the Cold War era (and Russian post Cold War paranoia). 

 
  A lot of emphasis has been placed stating that the MiG-31 has been armed with a nuclear version of the R-33 "Vympel" (Banner) air to air missile (NATO AA-9 "Amos"). However, none of the authoritative Russian sources that I've reviewed mention the R-33 with a nuclear warhead, and to the best of my knowledge the Soviets and Russians have never fielded a nuclear air to air missile. 

  While they certainly have the capability, and have produced implosion warheads down to a diameter of 5.98 inches (152mm), the R-33 missile's diameter of 15" certainly allows for a larger sized primary. 

  Analysis of photos and video of the R-33 involved in these loading exercises do not show markings consistent with Russian training nuclear weapons (inert load shapes), nor anything indicative of live nuclear warheads (Russian, former East German, and Hungarian web sites and books provide some interesting insight into Soviet and Russian nuclear weapons maintenance practices). There is heightened security in Russian state media videos, showing armed security and armed load crews. None of the weapons are marked in Cyrillic showing "INERT" (INERTNYY) or "TRAINING" (UCHEBNYY), thus the weapons being loaded are likely conventional R-33's. 

  A few months ago, Belarus media highlighted "nuclear load exercises" on Su-25 attack aircraft which were nothing more than 800 liter PTB-800 fuel tanks.  

  As for Russian nuclear control and release procedures, they're rather comprehensive and in the past were noted for the 12th GUMO ("Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense") responsible for security, transportation, handling, loading, and weapons maintenance. 

References-

1. "Belarus 'Nuclear Drills' Show Aircraft Fuel Tanks" by Michael H. Maggelet, Broken Arrow Blog, May 9, 2024. 

2. Various authoritative articles on Russian websites do not mention a nuclear warhead for the R-33 missile. An excellent reference on the development of the MiG-31 is featured in the book "MiG-25 Foxbat and MiG-31 Foxhound- Russia's Defensive Front Line" by noted aviation author Yefim Gordon. 

Russian weapons load crew with sidearms load R-33 missiles on a MiG-31

Belarus "Nuclear Drills" Show Aircraft Fuel Tanks

 Belarus "Nuclear Drills" Show Aircraft Fuel Tanks
Copyright 2024 by Michael H. Maggelet

Video released by the Belarus Defense Ministry, and posted to YouTube by the Hindustan Times on May 8th, 2024, shows Belarussian forces participating in "snap nuclear drills". Images include Belarus military personnel working with short range Iskander tactical missile systems, and taxiing Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft, with stores on the inside pylons blurred out. Additional images show that the "sanitized" items are nothing more than 800 liter PTB-800 fuel tanks. 

 QB-19 RCAT Drone Was Not "Top Secret"
Copyright 2024 by Michael H. Maggelet

QB-19 RCAT Drone Was Not "Top Secret"

Recent news articles and websites are promoting a myth that the RCAT QB-19 drone and its derivatives, produced by Radioplane and used by the Army as a target drone, was "top secret". 
  In fact, I have yet to find any reference that the common drone, or its radar guidance and tracking system, was even classified. 
The RCAT was produced under various designations from 1946 to the mid '80's, and saw service worldwide. 

Yahoo News article parroting the myth of the "top secret" drone. 

https://news.yahoo.com/mystery-object-found-cape-cod-163838688.html

Camp Wellfleet target range in Massachusetts- 

http://www.campwellfleet.com/about.html

https://03cd152.netsolhost.com/about.html

M33 and M38 Fire Control Systems-

https://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?https&&&www.usarmygermany.com/Units/Air%20Defense/USAREUR_ADA%20Overview%201.htm#M33

History of the drone and versions (by Andreas Parsch)-

https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-33.html

 "Reasons Why Pentagon Won't Shoot Down Chinese Spy Balloons"

1 April 2024, Copyright 2024 by Michael H. Maggelet

1. Shooting down balloon in sparsely populated Montana or North Dakota may trigger a "near peer" balloon arms race between Montana and North Dakota.

2. Tourists may confuse deflated balloons for obese Lewis and Clark reenactors, buckskinners, and USAF missile officers.

3. Don't want to provoke Putin, nor any Winnie the Pooh balloons.

4. Local ranchers may confuse balloon debris for UFO, much to the detriment of actual UFO crash sites in New Mexico.

5. Gender identity of balloon not confirmed, which may violate numerous equal opportunity guidelines, instructions, and power point presentations.

6. General Milley has not had time to secretly phone his Chinese counterpart to reassure Beijing that the US would not shoot down the balloon, thus altering "strategic recon balloon stability".

7. Shooting down PRC balloon may move "Doomsday Clock" hand closer to midnight, thus negatively influencing Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean strategic interests.

8. USAF does not have a "Chinese Reconnaissance Balloon" Environmental Impact Statement ready at this time.

9. Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to have Army attempt to shoot down balloon, followed by Navy, and maybe Space Force, thus denying USAF CMSgt JoAnne Bass another medal.

10. Pentagon assured by China that balloon is just a stray from Chinese New Year celebrations, flying over to see relatives in North Dakota near Minot AFB.

US Should Retain B83 Bomb

Copyright 2023 by Michael H. Maggelet


  The B83 strategic bomb, first deployed to FB-111 bases in mid 1984 (and later to SAC B-52's), was derived from the B77 thermonuclear bomb. I worked on the first mod of the B83, and since it was a newly deployed modern weapon, there wasn't much maintenance to perform internally. There were several retrofits accomplished just as I arrived at my new base, and the B83 was a welcome arrival compared to the B43 bomb which had been in the stockpile since 1960.

  I won't go into the technical details regarding the B83, only to say that it was quite easy to maintain compared to the labor intensive B43, and made our operations much easier since it contained insensitive high explosive (and it was more versatile for strike aircraft). [1]

  Statements by detractors that the B83 has "too high a yield" are laughable, since the bomb has selectable yields for a variety of targets. [2]

  Given the Russian, Chinese, and North Korean emphasis on building command posts and other high value targets in mountains and in heavily reinforced underground complexes, the US only has a limited number of weapons to destroy these targets. In addition, the B61-11 bomb has an earth penetrating capability. These weapons can only be delivered by the B-2, since nuclear gravity bombs were recently removed from B-52H's.

  While some portion of the ICBM and SLBM force can attack and possibly neutralize some underground facilities, the use of low yield SLBM warheads and air launched cruise missiles cannot be successfully used to destroy deeply buried underground complexes with surface bursts. 

1. "Nuclear Weapon Characteristics Handbook" by Sandia National Laboratories, September 1990. Declassified/sanitized from "Secret/Restricted Data", p. 77. 

2. Low yield option discussed by General C. Robert Kehler during the "Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, 113th Congress, 1st Session, October 29, 2013".                          

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg86075/html/CHRG-113hhrg86075.htm

B83 load shapes maintained by the author and other 463X0 personnel at Plattsburgh AFB, NY in the mid '80's (photo FB-111A.net).  

 

Soviet Officer “Saves World” Bravo Sierra

Note- I wrote this piece in 2019 on another blog, and unfortunately Leftist propaganda continues to deceive those naive enough to believe such nonsense.  

Copyright 2019 by M. H. Maggelet

  Time and again we read stories about Soviet officers performing their internationalist and progressive duties, and in the face of overwhelming imperialist hegemony and provocation, they manage to save the world from a nuclear holocaust and restore collective peace and international justice, etc. That’s what the Left wing press would have us believe. As we used to say in the military, it’s pure “Bravo Sierra”.

  As with other world nuclear forces, a single individual cannot authorize the launch of a nuclear weapon. It takes many individuals, ranging from security forces to authentication codes, to access nuclear weapons or to initiate the nuclear release process of a combat ready nuclear weapon system.

  Such was the case during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Soviet submarine B-59 (Project 641, NATO Foxtrot class) was detected by US anti-submarine forces and eventually surfaced after her batteries ran down. Just prior to surfacing, conditions inside the sub were extremely difficult with equipment breakdowns, and temperatures reaching 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

  Several senior officers lost their bearing and argued about using a nuclear torpedo on board the sub (likely a 53-58 T-5 with RDS-9 warhead, 3 or 9 kilotons) on circling US destroyers. One Soviet officer aboard B-59, Vadim Orlov, recorded the incident, and notes Captain Savitsky angrily ordered the assembly of the torpedo to combat readiness, which takes a minimum of three individuals (team chief, and at least two team members to perform mechanical and final assembly tasks).  Additionally, a KGB officer (and communist party representative) were on board, having the final word on preparing nuclear weapons for launch.

  There were at least two versions of the RDS-9 warhead for the T-5, one mod with an internal neutron initiator that required extra steps for installation into the physics package, and a “sealed pit” version. Additionally, a nuclear armed torpedo would also have to be loaded into the tube, another time consuming task with a 24 foot long, 4400 pound weapon.

  The story has been skewed by many in the media and the Left wing press, which  continually ignore the facts regarding the incident.  Orlov writes that after several moments, cooler heads prevailed and Second Captain V.A. Arkhipov and Deputy Political Officer I. S. Maslennnikov persuaded the captain to surface.

  The story doesn’t end there of course, as some anti-nuclear activists have promoted a Soviet officer named Stanlislav Petrov with another glorious internationalist task of “saving the world” in 1983. Lt. Col Petrov was a duty officer in charge of an air defence (PVO-Strany) command center, which was alerted by orbiting Molniya early warning satellites of a missile launch towards the Soviet Union. Petrov ignored the indications, which were later proven erroneous. However, once the Left wing press learned of the incident after 1998, he was showered with awards from activist groups.

  A statement released by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN noted that multiple sources are used to confirm an attack- “Under no circumstances a decision to use nuclear weapons could be made or even considered in the Soviet Union or in the United States on the basis of data from a single source or a system. For this to happen, a confirmation is necessary from several systems: ground based radars, early warning satellites, intelligence reports, etc.”

Air Force to Revert to Old Specialty Codes, Duty Uniforms.

Air Force Times

Washington, D.C.- 1 April 2023

  The U.S. Air Force announced today that the special military operation conducted by General Merrill McPeak in the '90's resulting in changes to U.S. Air Force regulations, specialty codes, and uniforms will be reverted to the 1986 era. 

  This move, designed to improve morale, will be implemented immediately and will revert all Air Force Instructions back to "Regulations", which were in place since the end of WWII. Additionally, Air Force airmen, totally confused about ever changing annual physical testing requirements, will now have to run a mile and a half at least once a year, or walk a mile and a half at a brisk pace while smoking a cigarette. 

  While the new Occupational Camouflage Pattern uniform has been lauded by many, there are new changes afoot. Instead of insignia being "spice brown", it will be "pumpkin spice brown".  Due to the negative connotations of the term "coyote", parts of the uniform will now be described as "Labrador Brown" or "Dark Brown Kitty Cat" (depending on personal preference). At no time will such color schemes be refered to as "Ginger" or "Bill D. Cat".  

 

  

Patrol caps will now include a ventilation hole at the rear of the cap for man-buns (or ponytails). 

  The instructions/regulations for moustaches (for men, or whatever) will be dependent on specific duties. For example, fighter pilots may be permitted to wear the "Colonel Robin Olds" pattern, however Guy Fawkes, Navy SEAL goatee's, '70's porn 'staches, and "tacticool" beards will be permitted for the rank and file. 

  On the matter of flight suits and leather jackets, anyone who has ever seen an airplane may be permitted to wear these uniform items. However, aviator sunglasses will be limited to actual aviators. 

  As for Air Force Specialty Codes, the Air Force Intelligence Agency has determined that adversary nations have finally cracked the current AF specialty codes and badges dating from the McPeak era, and since no historical documentation exists on Air Force websites and on Google, the Air Force will revert  to the 1950's era AFSC's with additional shredouts for REMF's, Homesteaders, Ticket Punchers, and "Nonner's". 

  Finally, the Air Force intends to spend millions of dollars researching the conversion of non-covert velcro closures on the OCP uniform to silent button closures (as was the case on the previous OG-107, OG-507, and Woodland BDU uniforms).

Tactical Velcro Opening Secret

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSK3maq8Cyk

Space Force; FLOTUS Designs Space Force Uniforms
(warning- language)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN0P5ev2PG8