Word: kiloton
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...issue is a 1-kiloton nuclear bomb* that can be delivered to battlefield targets by 20-ft. Lance missiles, with a range of 75 miles, or by 8-in. howitzer shells, which can be fired about 13 miles. The weapon gets its name from the fact that on detonation it releases enormous quantities of radioactive neutrons that kill people without destroying buildings. According to proponents, the bomb could break up a Soviet tank attack without destroying buildings outside the battle zone. Moreover, since most neutron radiation dissipates in seconds, NATO troops could move in quickly to secure the battlefield...
Nuclear arms production began 32 years ago when an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped a 15-kiloton atomic device on Hiroshima. Prior to this, the largest bomb developed had been the "blockbuster," so named because it was capable of devastating an entire city block. The Hiroshima bomb had a destructive force equivalent to 1300-2000 blockbusters and the one A-bomb virtually pulverized a city of more than 300,000 inhabitants. When President Truman heard the news, he said: "This is the greatest thing in history...
...neutron bomb that is slated for production packs a one-kiloton punch. By contrast, most of the tactical nukes that are stockpiled in Europe come in sizes often, 20 and 50 kilotons. If a standard ten-kiloton warhead were detonated, it would level nearly every building within a radius of over a mile. A neutron bomb exploded 130 yds. in the air would destroy all structures within only a 140-yd. radius. It would instantly kill anyone within a half-mile radius, and for people within a one-mile range would cause delayed deaths up to a month after...
...buzz bombs: small, pilotless jet planes that can be launched from land, ships or planes. The Air Force's cruise missiles fly at 550 m.p.h. about 50 ft. above the ground. That enables them to slip under the Soviets' line-of-sight radar to deliver 200-kiloton nuclear warheads with astounding accuracy-within 100 ft. of their targets. One version, the ALCM-A (for air-launched cruise missile), has a range of 750 miles. A second version, the ALCM-B, has extra fuel tanks that extend its range to about 1,700 miles...
...Navy's submarine-launched version of the cruise, the Tomahawk, is 21 ft. long, can carry 200-kiloton nukes at speeds up to 550 m.p.h. and has a range of 2,000 miles...