ATOMIC-ANNIHILATION

2005 ... would the Nike have saved us?

... I got all excited thinking this was a promotional pamphlet from the time the 'Nike' nuclear tipped anti-aircraft missile was in operation. I was going to give it a big thumbs-up for the scare your pants off division of Cold-War information. Turns out to be a history article from a 2005 issue of 'Air & Space'. Oh well. I can't find the full article on the Internet so I'll throw in a documentary sure to leave you hiding under your beds!

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1964 (?) ... prettiest baby on the lot!

"... take a walk down the tarmac and you can see we've got three great little models for you- yessir!"

Left to right; engine intake and wing of the Martin B-57 'Canberra', North American XB-70 "Valkyrie'and the Lockheed YF-12. The YF-12 is pretending to be a possible super-duper interceptor so no one pays attention to the nearly identical SR-71 'Blackbird' spy-plane (still confuses me!).

1968 ... catch me if you can!

... looking every bit the deadly predator that it was not; the BQM-34E 'Firebee' Target Drone runs for it's life!

Marvelous painting by Keith Ferris.

LINK

1950's ... the "Aluminum Overcast"

... a 'flight' of B-36 'Peacemakers' darkening the sky. I miss my childhood days (late 50's early 60's) when the USAF was much more keen on burning aviation fuel and scaring the barnyard chickens. All sorts of stuff used to go zooming over my small Ohio town. We got to see our "tax dollars at work!".

It was in fact reassuring and instilled some pride and sense of patriotism. For those of us that lived it; the Cold War was a very scary time!

BTW - I noticed how sharp the 36 sets of props are (and by all the dust marks I had to remove I can guarantee it's an original Air Force photo). My guess is that at the fastest shutter speed of the time, 1/1000th of a sec was enough to freeze those huge slow turning blades.

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... everything you'll need for avoiding Atomic Zombies!

... it's important to note that with everything is in full color these days - we may be safer from Atomic Annihilation!

1996 ... time to react with REACT!

... some wonderful graphics on placement and control of Americas ground based ICBM's; from our neighbors at 'Nuclear Companion'.

LINK LINK

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1956 ... "Battle of Palmdale"

... I had heard of this; but an enthusiastic fan provided much more info (and he just can't stop laughing about it!) The fan, Greg Renner, also provided the 'commemorative' art !

... on the morning of 16 August 1956, the USAF was trying desperately to shoot down a large, errant target drone which had wondered off on it's own over Los Angeles. A Comedy of Errors with so many details it's best to follow the links to catch all the fun!

wiki LINK

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1981 ... Project 941 Akula; 'Typhoon'

... big ugly fellow isn't it? Did you know that of the six 'Typhoons' built; only [1] remains in service?

(Note to self: any presence of steam or smoke makes a picture semi-steampunk and twice as awesome!)

LINK

2020 ... new kid on the block!

... shout-out for a new Cold War blog "Nuclear Companion". Glad to see you guys. It was getting sort of lonely out here!

LINK

1996 ... REACT (Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting)

... complex computery stuff to launch WW3; best explained in this most righteous blog:

LINK

1950 ... "Job avail; needs fast car!"

1962 ... Soviet documentary on the 'Tsar Bomb'

LINK

1961 ... a lot of fun at parties!

... B-41 Hydrogen Bomb - yield 25 megatons - 500 built - largest weapon ever fielded by the the USA.

1960 ... B-58 'Hustler' - Convair

LINK

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1983 ... MIRV (single)

LINK

... every time I look at this picture; I can't help thinking of this scene from 'True Lies'.

1960 ... Mk-4 and W-38

This is the 'warhead' used on most Atlas and some Titan ICBM's in the early 1960's. It rides on the very top of the missile. Toward the end of the ballistic trajectory the blunt nose will endure the heat of atmospheric re-entry and the H-bomb in the center section will detonate. The W-38 H-bomb in this 'package' had a yield of 3.75 megatons. The entire assembly weighed 3,080 lbs- about the same as a 1965 Ford Mustang.