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Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

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Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#161

Post by fourseventy »

formvoltron wrote: post #145
chipsa wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second strike weapon. It is supposed to be able to survive someone else's first strike. First strike weapons can't survive someone else's first strike. It's part of the whole "assured destruction" thing: doesn't matter if you hit us first, you're still going to end up a self lit parking lot afterwards.

The obvious problem with mutual assured destruction is that an insane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all of current and future humanity. How about not strike back, just try to survive & show future generations of the world how to be. Go live in that other country that isn't radioactive.

Because then there would be no deterrent to stop people nuking you.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#162

Post by matheusmoreira »

vkou wrote: post #63
thelittleone wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No doubt surreal, but a single sub destroy the world? That piqued my interest so took a quick look and found an article [1]. This article states that "even a single vessel [submarine] could reduce as many as 288 city-sized targets into radioactive ash in less than 30 minutes." Later in the article they say that the Ohio class is capable of carrying up to 24 UGM-133 Trident II D5 submarine launched ballistic missiles.…

A single sub can destroy the world any time it's commander wishes, not by launching 288 warheads at 288 cities, but by launching one warhead, at either Moscow, or Washington. Contingency plans for responding to a decapitating strike will do the rest.

Reminds me of the soviet nuclear false alarm where the fact that computers detected a single missile was important.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alar...

> Shortly after midnight, the bunker's computers reported that one intercontinental ballistic missile was heading toward the Soviet Union from the United States.

> Petrov considered the detection a computer error, since a first-strike nuclear attack by the United States was likely to involve hundreds of simultaneous missile launches in order to disable any Soviet means of a counterattack.

Now I wonder if one missile fired by a submarine would be similarly dismissed as computer error...

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#163

Post by pengaru »

samatman wrote: post #104
pengaru wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't say I recall anything dolphin-related in the film. But The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou had a comedic military dolphin element. "Son of a bitch, I'm sick of these dolphins."

That's a cache miss though, the military dolphin in Johnny Mnemnonic is a big part of the plot. He even has a name, Jones! Hard for me to forget since a friend ran a keyserver in the 90s called jones.[his-domain].net...

Ok, I'll have to rewatch it, it's not something I've seen much since it was released.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#164

Post by bilbo0s »

whatshisface wrote: post #158
formvoltron wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious problem with mutual assured destruction is that an insane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all of current and future humanity. How about not strike back, just try to survive & show future generations of the world how to be. Go live in that other country that isn't radioactive.

Because then a sane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all current opponents.

Even worse, the aggressor would come to believe there are no deleterious consequences to massive nuclear first strikes.

As counter intuitive as it may sound, a massive retaliatory strike would render a more safe future world for non combatant nations. Yes, despite what Hollywood may have told you in films, most of those nations would survive. Especially nations in the Southern Hemisphere not called Australia.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#165

Post by whatshisface »

bilbo0s wrote: post #164
whatshisface wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because then a sane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all current opponents.

Even worse, the aggressor would come to believe there are no deleterious consequences to massive nuclear first strikes. As counter intuitive as it may sound, a massive retaliatory strike would render a more safe future world for non combatant nations. Yes, despite what Hollywood may have told you in films, most of those nations would survive. Especially nations in the Southern Hemisphere not called Australia.

The US actually believed that for many years, at the start of the atomic age.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#167

Post by fourseventy »

hinoki wrote: post #107
reilly3000 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My contribution to your already wonderful list: The Bat Bomb, aka Project X-Ray https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

And pigeon guided bombs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon

came here to say this one

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#168

Post by BasilPH »

Nullinker wrote: post #127
celticninja wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are overestimating how well a diver can maenouver under water in comparison to a dolphin.

But we should also not underestimate the ability of the enemy to train dolphins. It would be hard to send an strike team of just dolphins but I imagine a strike team of both humans and dolphins trained to fend of the defending dolphins and protect the divers would stand a chance.

AFAIK dolphins are never used together with friendly divers against other divers as the dolphins can't discern between friends or foes.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#169

Post by dqpb »

> Since 1967, the Navy has been training dolphins and sea lions (and probably other marine life)

I like how they threw in "(and probably other marine life)". Always keep the enemy guessing. Is that really just a sea horse, or is it a highly trained US operative? Is that cuttlefish strobing because it thinks I'm a suitable mate, or is this some DARPA Psy Op? Even the kelp have ears...

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#170

Post by wolverine876 »

chx wrote: post #12

These days you can't believe anything unless an official source is provided. This is it: https://www.niwcpacific.navy.mil/marine-mammal-program/

> you can't believe anything unless an official source is provided

Official sources are necessary but not at all sufficient. They are highly biased.

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