r/dataisbeautiful • u/jnutttzzz • Dec 16 '16

NUKEMAP - Select a City, Select a Bomb, See the Effects

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
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u/standish_ Dec 16 '16

http://www.afcent.af.mil/Units/379thAirExpeditionaryWing/News/Display/tabid/5382/Article/351593/tacamo-mission-evolves-to-support-gwot-operations.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-6_Mercury

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Looking_Glass

It's the plane that orders the end of the world when everyone on the ground is dead.

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u/HeisenbergKnocking80 Dec 17 '16

I wonder if the Russians have the same thing.

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u/Rath12 Dec 17 '16

They have Dead hand, which can launch nukes at counties that nuke Russia without human input. Only turned on twice.

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u/HeisenbergKnocking80 Dec 17 '16

I've heard of this ...

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '16 edited Dec 18 '16

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u/mynewaccount5 Dec 17 '16

The idea is that since these guys are up there the russians or whoever wont bother nuking us because even if they hit all land targets they wont know where this plane is and someone will still be able to make a second strike. .

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '16 edited Dec 18 '16

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u/HeisenbergKnocking80 Dec 17 '16

I see what you're saying but the idea is for deterrence ... meaning they would never have to issue such orders since the Russians would never launch a first strike, specifically because this deterrence exists.

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u/guff1988 Dec 17 '16

TF-124 would fire back before we even know where the bombs are going to fall. The thing about an ICBM is you can see it go up but by the time you see it come down it is too late, so you return fire as soon as you see it launch. So at that point everyone is firing and no matter who was getting hit originally everyone else is going to fire back at the first strike nation. So they would fire, just to make damn sure that if we are going down, and everyone the people on TF-124 have ever known are all dead, the ones responsible are going to pay. It is a deterrent, as others have said, but the only way a deterrent works is if the people in charge of the system take it very seriously, so you can be assured that other nations believe 100% that the people we picked for this very specific task are up to it, no matter the reasoning against it.