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Interesting read - three of the four safety mechanisms failed on an a bomb from a b52 that broke up over North Carolina. Had the last safety switch failed North Carolina would have been ground zero for a bomb blast 260 times more powerful then Hiroshima.
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I guarantee the first engineer on that bomb's design was all "Check it out, I put THREE safety switches on this bad boy. Overkill I know, but we gotta get this thing approved." Then some some crusty ass Colonel asked him "what happens if all three fail?" There probably wasn't a comfortable way to let the Colonel know that in that event they probably would not name America's newest dry lake after him. So they installed a fourth.Kung Wu say, man who read woman like book, prefer braille! -
Maybe the final safety was designed by the russians?Comment
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I thought it was just recent until I saw the title of the article. They probably have a lot more safeguards today then they did back in 1961.Comment
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The twin evils of redundancy and overkill most often take a lot of heat because of cost overuns, etc. But in many weapons systems, you'll rarely get any complaints from the men or women who man those systems.
Nor likely now from the fine folks of North Carolina.Comment
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Broken Arrow.The mountains are calling, and I must go.Comment
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