Nuke-Armed B-52 Mistakenly Flown Over U.S.

Commander Fired After Bomber Armed With Six Nuclear Warheads Flew Over Several States

(AP)  A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the mishandling of the weapons "deeply disturbing" and said the committee would press the military for details.

The plane was carrying Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons.

The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber's wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand.

The Air Combat Command has ordered a command-wide stand down on Sept. 14 to review procedures, officials said. They said there was minimal risk to crews and the public because of safety features designed into the munitions.

In addition to the munitions squadron commander who was relieved of his duties, crews involved with the mistaken load — including ground crew workers — have been temporarily decertified for handling munitions, one official said.

The investigation is expected to take several weeks.

The incident was first reported in Military Times newspaper.

"There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling of nuclear weapons," Skelton said in a statement Wednesday. "The American people, our friends, and our potential adversaries must be confident that the highest standards are in place when it comes to our nuclear arsenal."

Skelton, D-Mo., said his committee will pursue answers on the classified matter "to ensure that the Air Force and the Department of Defense address this particular incident and strengthen controls more generally."

[drivelphobe]

No harm no foul!

[clestes-2009]

Wow, nukes gone missing for 3-1/2 hours and it is nothing to be concerned about.

How screwed up is our military that it cannot keep track of these bombs?

[mnelsonix]

A "S.N.A.F.U." OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Unfcuking believable that 6 armmed nukes can mistakenly be transported anywhere and then say: ""They said there was minimal risk to crews and the public because of safety features designed into the munitions.""

Nuts a gunna roll...then heads!

[walt1944-2009]

Upon hearing that a B-52 loaded with nukes flew over several states for several hours, Emperor Bush was officially upset with the discovery. He had reasoned that since Saddam Hussein had been able to bomb his own people with WMD''s, that he might be able to do the same, then blame it all on mysterious "terrrrorists" and use his emergency powers to stay in office for the next 20 years and finish the goals he had set of invading, Iran, Syria, and North Korea, thus ridding the world of the "axis of evil", insuring great financial prosperity for Halliburton, and going down in history as the greatest "Emperor" since Alexander the Great!

Of course, the fact that he will have bankrupted the former USA and destroyed the US military in the process is "irrelevant" to him.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[rray52]

oops

[jshmks]

Good thing it didn''t pull a Titanic in the air.

[bareemperor]

Had Bu$hCo been able to fly that B-52 into a skyscraper, then maybe the song would be different...

[red164]

Nuke-Armed B-52 Mistakenly Flown Over U.SWASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2007.
Commander Fired After Bomber Armed With Six Nuclear Warheads Flew Over Several States

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2007

And people wonder how 9/11 was pulled off? Nuke-Armed B-52 Mistakenly Flown Over U.SWASHINGTON, this was no mistake but that''s how the media has been told, so the story goes. If one nuke were dropped would that be the suitcase variety?

[v_1618]

SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

IF YOU HAVE A GUN IN HOME SOMEONE WILL BE HURT SOONER OR LATER...THAT''S FOR SURE...

[rushlimpdrug]

"Mission Accomplished"

It was reported the B-52 had a bumper sticker reading:
"Jesus is my co-pilot"

[zigzag14]

You all need to take a reading comprehension course. The missles were not armed, the bomber was. Unarmed nukes won''t explode even if the plane crashed. Ruptured warheads could leak radiation though.

It did not go over Washington. It went from North Dakota to Louisianna so it most likely went over North Dakota/Minnesota, South Dakota/Iowa, Missouri/Kansas, Arkansas/Oklahoma and parts of Louisianna.

The weapons weren''t missing, they knew where they were. And besides, what makes you think that armed bombers don''t criss-cross the U.S. every day?

[djdik-2009]

To bad the bombs didnt drop... it was flying over mostly redneck republican states that elected our retarded president in the first place. we''ll get em'' next time

[fastfredy1]

The W80 is physically quite small, the "physics package" itself is about the size of a conventional Mk.81 250 lb (113 kg) bomb, 11.8 inches in diameter and 31.4 inches long, and only slightly heavier at about 290 lb (132 kg).

Armorers have the ability to select the yield of the resulting explosion in-flight, a capability sometimes referred to as "dial-a-yield" but more properly Variable yield. At one end of the scale, perhaps using just the boosted fission primary, the W80 delivers about 5 kilotons of TNT, at the other it delivers about 150 kt.

[antoniof123]

zigzag14 chill man this is a joke most people now a days grew up living under the threat of being destroyed so it doesn''t really scare them any more. Only dumb a.s.s.e.s. are still afarid.

[fastfredy1]

This transporting of nukes was an oversight that should not have happened. It did happen and someone told the media about it. This was highly classified information that was released without authorization. One mistake and one intentional act. The shipping of the nukes was truly an incident of high degree, but they were never out of custody. The release of the information was also an incident of high degree that violated security regulation and should be punished even more strongly than the nukes incident.

[v_1618]

FUNNY .. SOMEONES SAID THAT 6 MISSILES WAS CARRY ON AND ANOTHERS SAID THAT 5 MISSILES WAS CARRY ON .. SO SOMETHING IS WRONG WHO MUCH MISSILES WERE IN FACT.. ????

[rushlimpdrug]

The release of the information was also an incident of high degree that violated security regulation and should be punished even more strongly than the nukes incident.
Posted by fastfredy1

Don''t worry fastfredy1 I won''t tell anyone.
It will be our secret.
No one knows the password to my computer so our secret won''t get out.

[feelfree1]

Re: "The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber''s wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand."

Sounds like al-CIA''da was experimenting with a new method of delivering their next attack.

[kaviz]

I find it hard to believe the military didn''t know what they were- Wait a minute! I hear a jet flying over, got to run to the bomb shelter for a minute.

[v_1618]

MISTAKENLY MY AZZZ.... SOMEONES IN HOME WANTS TO KILL US ALL ... AND SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY FOR SURE...

[fastfredy1]

I grew up in the duck and cover era

[rushlimpdrug]

I grew up in the duck and cover era
Posted by fastfredy1

does that mean you quack like a duck if you don''t cover your azz?

[extremophil]

Why can''t they mistakenly fly over Iran and mistakenly pull the trigger (?)

[qwaszx1-2009]

Someone in the military made a mistake and was fired...Must not have been on Bush''s donor list.

[ioweign]

We are worried about Iran and nukes - I guess we will show them how to handle them !!

[fastfredy1]

I grew up in the duck and cover era
Posted by fastfredy1

does that mean you quack like a duck if you don''''t cover your azz?

No it means I am not afraid of nukes anymore. You should read mor on them and how they are protected

[ioweign]

I grew up in the duck and cover era
Posted by fastfredy1 at 02:01 PM : Sep 05, 2007

So did I !

PS...Do not look at the flash !!

[incog-nito]

Nothing to worry about. If you''re at ground zero you won''t feel a thing.

[jowand]

We are worried about Iran and nukes - I guess we will show them how to handle them !!
Posted by IOWEIGN at 02:07 PM : Sep 05, 2007

Where do we park the B-52s carrying nukes when they are on standby?

[red164]

MISTAKENLY MY AZZZ.... SOMEONES IN HOME WANTS TO KILL US ALL ... AND SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY FOR SURE...
Posted by V_1618 at 02:00 PM : Sep 05, 2007

The 9/11 part II? Cheney must be bummed none of the bombs were dropped.

[fastfredy1]

Design Features
Two stage radiation implosion thermonuclear weapon.
The 5 kiloton low yield option presumably represents the boosted primary yield alone, while the high yield adds the full secondary yield . The lowest yield option available for the B61, 0.3 kt, is not available with the W80, presumably because a yield this low is of no strategic interest.

Arming and fuzing system weighs 10 pounds.
Here is a speculative interpretation of the design:
The fission primary is located in the larger diameter cylindrical part of the body, the aft section of which contains the firing electronics, tritium reservoir, and pulse neutron initiator tube. The spherical thermonuclear secondary is in the smaller diameter rounded "nose" of the warhead.
The outer weapon casing is made of aluminum and is lined with uranium to form the radiation case. The primary consists of a spherical IHE shell surrounding the pit which is made of a hollow bonded beryllium/plutonium double shell with a two-point air lens to create the implosion. The void inside the hollow pit is filled with deuterium-tritium gas at detonation time. The secondary is a sphere consisting of an outer pusher/tamper layer of oralloy (highly enriched uranium) and an inner shell of lithium-6 deuteride. The secondary is hollow and is filled with deuterium-tritium gas at detonation time to produce "hot spot" ignition at the moment of maximum compression.

[missingamerica]

That''s a pretty good mistake. Kind of like accidentally strapping on an FN-P90 instead of a can of pepper spray.

I don''t suppose I''ll ever get to hear the explanation, but I bet it will be a doozy.

[jowand]

The 9/11 part II? Cheney must be bummed none of the bombs were dropped.
Posted by red164 at 02:23 PM : Sep 05, 2007

Their mission was to narrow the field down to two Democrats in the Presidential race, Kucinich and Gravel

[fastfredy1]

The first line of defense against unauthorized activation is a lock on the weapon. The earliest locks were mechanical combination locks, but since the early 1960s a more sophisticated system called a "permissive action link" (PAL) has been increasingly employed. A PAL is an electronic (originally electro-mechanical) device that prevents arming the weapon unless the correct codes are inserted into it. Two different codes must be inserted, simultaneously or close together. This is the "two man rule" principle - which requires it to be impossible to arm any nuclear weapon through the actions of a single individual. The codes are usually changed on a regular schedule. PALs have been developed in several versions of increasing sophistication, designated A through F. PAL
Category Description
(none) Mechanical combination lock
A Four-digit, 10-position electromechanical coded switch (most retired or replaced by 1987)
B Ground & airplane-operable 4-digit coded switch (later version with limited try followed by lockout until reset)
C Single-code 6-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout
D Multiple-code 6-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout
F Multiple-code 12-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout

[fastfredy1]

The first line of defense against unauthorized activation is a lock on the weapon. The earliest locks were mechanical combination locks, but since the early 1960s a more sophisticated system called a "permissive action link" (PAL) has been increasingly employed. A PAL is an electronic (originally electro-mechanical) device that prevents arming the weapon unless the correct codes are inserted into it. Two different codes must be inserted, simultaneously or close together. This is the "two man rule" principle - which requires it to be impossible to arm any nuclear weapon through the actions of a single individual. The codes are usually changed on a regular schedule. PALs have been developed in several versions of increasing sophistication, designated A through F. PAL
Category Description
(none) Mechanical combination lock
A Four-digit, 10-position electromechanical coded switch (most retired or replaced by 1987)
B Ground & airplane-operable 4-digit coded switch (later version with limited try followed by lockout until reset)
C Single-code 6-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout
D Multiple-code 6-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout
F Multiple-code 12-digit switch, limited try followed by lockout

[libsluvsuvs]

oh lord!! the "we are not anti-american liberals"
are showing a little of thier true colors.
why is this even an issue? nothing more than just to fuel speculations..allegations and conspiracies.
I bet if it was a terrorist..these same people who find someway to justify it.

[v_1618]

MISTAKENLY MY AZZZ.... SOME PEOPLE IN HOME WANTS TO KILL US ALL... ARE THEY TRANSPORTING NUCLEAR HEADS WITH NO REASON,??? I DON''T THINK SO.. WHO TRANSPORT NUCLEAR WARHEADS WITH NO REASON I GUESS NOBODY ---- SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY ... THE TRUTH IS THERE''S NO MISTAKE IN THIS ISSUE . SOME PEOPLE WANTS TO DETONATE NUCLEAR ARMS INSIDE THE UNITED STATES ... AS A PRETEXT TO GO TO WAR WITH IRAN..

[v_1618]

MISTAKENLY MY AZZZ.... SOME PEOPLE IN HOME WANTS TO KILL US ALL... ARE THEY TRANSPORTING NUCLEAR HEADS WITH NO REASON,??? I DON''T THINK SO.. WHO TRANSPORT NUCLEAR WARHEADS WITH NO REASON I GUESS NOBODY ---- SMELLS LIKE A CONSPIRACY ... THE TRUTH IS THERE''S NO MISTAKE IN THIS ISSUE . SOME PEOPLE WANTS TO DETONATE NUCLEAR ARMS INSIDE THE UNITED STATES ... AS A PRETEXT TO GO TO WAR WITH IRAN..

[fastfredy1]

There are other safety measures that have been included in some or all modern weapons:

"Fire resistant pits" (FRPs) that prevent molten plutonium from escaping in a fire (probably by containing it within the high melting point beryllium reflector shell);
"Insensitive high explosives" (IHE), these use the explosive TATB which is highly resistant to "cooking off" in a fire, or being detonated by mechanical shock;
Insulating containers may be used to reduce the influx of heat from a fire,
"Limited retry" may be used in a PAL. This disables the PAL if the wrong combination is entered too many times, requiring factory service to restore (the same way ATMs will eat a ATM card if the wrong PIN number is entered repeatedly).
Weapons can also use active self-damaging mechanisms that break bomb components, requiring factory repair before the weapon can be fired, if tampering (including excessive retrys) is detected. Recent weapons have "noviolent" (non-explosive) disablement systems. These systems can also be activated by remote command in some weapons.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by fastfredy1

wow, I''m impressed.
can you cook and iron?
some where out there there is a cut and past partner for you.

[bareemperor]

god - I pay these guys my hard-earned taxes?

[pepperp1]

This is really tooooooooooooooooo funny you just can not make this stuff up............all this on the same day we find our military mistakenly flew 4 or was it 5 nuke war heads directly across the US.

And you dumb scared poodles are worried about terrorist.......creating the mushroom cloud that will kill you........Amazing just Amazing something like war heads, war heads can be handled mistakenly.......

*** in toilets and NUKES war heads flying overhead across the country.



And that idiot Bush and his sect members in the pentagon, congress, party and press reenacting Ground Hog Iraq Day 1,507 ...........



why must I pay taxes and fund these fools, Lord WHY.





There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling of nuclear weapons, Skelton said in a statement Wednesday.


YA THINK.

[rushlimpdrug]

"There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling of nuclear weapons."
Rep. Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee

Since when did they make Red Skeleton in chairman?

[speakinup]

"Re: "The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber''''s wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand."

"Sounds like al-CIA''''da was experimenting with a new method of delivering their next attack. FeelFree1

Paranoia strikes deep.



"You all need to take a reading comprehension course." zigzag14

Exactly, zigzag14. Even if SeeBS did their very best to distort the truth - "Nuke-Armed B-52 Mistakenly Flown Over U.S.
Commander Fired After Bomber Armed With Six Nuclear Warheads Flew Over Several States"

Most people never get past the headlines, and make several assumptions based upon them. Which is precisely why many liberals are running around at this very moment like chicken little.

True enough, it should never have happened, but that they weren''t armed proves that the failsafe works.

[Syndicate]

This may have been deliberate. You know one of those pre planned accidents. What better way to alert the world that you are flying sophisticated long range bombers with advanced nuclear tipped cruise missles. Than to anounce it as a mistake in the papers. Everyone is reminded of your capability but no one feels threatened because it was a mistake on your own soil. I think this is very interesting given Russias recent proclamations and actions.

[red164]

Posted by speakinup at 02:38 PM : Sep 05, 2007

So you know for a fact if one of those bombs dropped it wouldn''t have blow up?
Come on even a *** GOP drop out like you speakinup should be able to figure out what''s going on.

[rray52]

Is there a aluminum foil shortage?

[red164]

Top aide brands Bush a liar over Iraqi army''s fate
By DAVID GARDNER - More by this author ;

Last updated at 10:22am on 5th September 2007


By DAVID GARDNER - More by this author ;

Last updated at 10:22am on 5th September 2007


How many more times? Must the GOP diehards hear it from the mouth former BUSH loyalists?


Top aide brands Bush a liar

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=479989&in_page_id=1811

[thinkharder-]

You folks really want to **** your pants?

Check out this link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jAnbiykoBs

...just copy and paste in your address bar.

[red164]

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Wednesday, September 5, 2007


*** Cheney''s former legal counsel David Addington threatened the consequence of mass terror attacks in order to silence Department of Justice lawyer Jack Goldsmith when he questioned the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program, according to Goldsmith''s new book.

The Terror Presidency details how Bush administration officials dangled the fear of terror over critic''s heads every time a whimper of dissent emerged over attempts to beef executive power.

David Addington is now Cheney''s chief of staff and was once described by U.S. News and World Report as "the most powerful man you''ve never heard of." Immediately after 9/11, he pushed the argument that the NSA should be given carte blanche to wiretap purely domestic telephone calls and e-mails, a complete violation of the 4th Amendment.