$1 Billion for a Nuclear Bomb Tail

[Broccoli]

Nuclear weapons are never cheap, but these are damn expensive tailkits.
$1 Billion for a Nuclear Bomb Tail - Strategic Security Blog

 

[India defense]

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[gambit]

These B61 gravity bombs are not that big. An example is here...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/NukesGulf_B-61.jpg

The first time I seen one was back during the Cold War when I was stationed in RAF Upper Heyford. We always had several jets on 'Victor Alert' shelters.

Victor Alert

The F-111 wings in England in the 1970s were tasked with quickly launching up to 60 aircraft under certain war plans. F-111s could carry multiple B61 warheads.

The B61 was an external weapon designed in the 1960s to withstand the stress of fighter maneuvers such as supersonic flight, low-level ingress, and pop-ups prior to weapons release. During exercises, as many as three squadrons of F-111s had to be started from carts at once. Black clouds of smoke rose over the airfield as the F-111s taxied at 15-second launch intervals.

The fins on them were outright primitive compare to the stuff we have today. We relied solely on the pop-up/toss-up maneuver to deliver them. The fins were just designed just right and manufactured just strong enough to keep the bomb from going out of control while it is in its ballistic arc. No guidance of any kind. It was nuclear so basically if it detonate within a still classified distance from target, it was good enough. With this mod, the bomb can be with smaller yield, which will allow more room for even more sophisticated avionics, which will make it even accurate and precise.

I can still remember the first sight of it and how I felt back then. Inside every VA shelter is a 'no lone zone', meaning there must be at least two persons and both have to be within full body view of each other. If there are 3 persons, then all three must be together at all time. Lethal force were authorized to enforce that rule. If there are 4 persons, then each pair can be out of sight of the other. I remember I felt a sense of quiet awe and fear at seeing such a small package of destruction before me. Not trying to be rhetorical but that is the best I can describe the feeling.

 

[RazorMC]

These B61 gravity bombs are not that big. An example is here...

...
The fins on them were outright primitive compare to the stuff we have today. We relied solely on the pop-up/toss-up maneuver to deliver them. The fins were just designed just right and manufactured just strong enough to keep the bomb from going out of control while it is in its ballistic arc. No guidance of any kind. It was nuclear so basically if it detonate within a still classified distance from target, it was good enough. With this mod, the bomb can be with smaller yield, which will allow more room for even more sophisticated avionics, which will make it even accurate and precise.

...

How is the $1b price tag justified? That price can cover a kamikaze-style drone carrying the bomb to its target and still have tonnes of cash left.

 

[gambit]

How is the $1b price tag justified? That price can cover a kamikaze-style drone carrying the bomb to its target and still have tonnes of cash left.

All bombs and missiles are essentially one-way suicide weapons, correct?

You have to pay for the development and each -- bomb or missile -- is essentially a custom R/D effort. A gravity driven bomb have different flight characteristics than a continuous propelled cruise missile, for example. Gravity is constant while a jet engine can be throttled up/down. Basic aerodynamics will inform you that altitude and airspeed affect forces acting upon flight control surfaces and that mean the fins on the bomb reaction and reaction cannot be the same as that of a cruise missile. Then you have to pay for testing, of which each test is essentially a destructive test. Hence the 1 bil price tag. But the value of deterrence is worth much more.

 

[Broccoli]

B61 LEP: Increasing NATO Nuclear Capability and Precision Low-Yield Strikes - Strategic Security Blog