Most Bizarre Cold War Weapon(s)?

[Rivet]

So I figured we might have a little fun. What is the most bizarre Cold War-era weapon that you're aware of? I can think of a few, but will reserve them for later.

Enjoy.

[phylo_roadking]

Dating from the very end of the Cold War era...and I'm not QUITE sure if it shopuld be called a weapon...comes the legendary Sticky Foam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_foam beloved of the First Earth Battalion

...SO useful, that when used in Somalia to throw up barriers to Somalis chasing withdrawing U.S. troops - they just jumped over it!

[South]

Good morning Rivet,

I've got a couple of entries - if allowed some literary license with word "bizaar". My entries are more focused to the bazaar committee members approving the entries.

The Supermarine Swift circa 1950; this early era air superiority jet aircraft was designed with an afterburner that did not work at high altitude. The Supermarine Swift is classical "Haste makes waste". It was designed and developed just too fast. Nothing else need be said.

The USS Grayback and USS Growler circa 1957; these 2 vessels were designed as attack submarines (repeat: submarines). They were converted to launch missiles, explicitly being the Regulus nuclear missile. To fire a missile required the sub to surface and remain at periscope depth to guide the missile. The Regulus was a short range missile. Thus, the launch sub had to get close to the target. The shelf life of Murmansk ice in the Arizona deserts computes longer than the survivability of these USN crews.

Fortunately for the Cold War antagonists, the USSR designed and developed some award-winners also. The Echo class missile subs were as quiet as a rock concert.


Let me close with mention of the RN's H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) subs, the HMS Excalibur and HMS Explorer. These subs were developed from studying captured WWII German experimental subs. These RN vessels had some safety record problems. The subs were unofficially renamed HMS Excrutiator and HMS Exploder, respectively.

Warm regards,

Bob

[Kingfish]

During the Vietnam war the US deployed a variety of air-dropped sensor along the Ho Chi Minh trail to monitor the flow of foot and vehicle traffic. One such sensor was dubbed "Turdsid" because it was designed to look like dogsh*t. After it was discovered that there were no dogs on the Ho Chi Minh trail the sensors were redesigned to resemble sticks or branches.

[phylo_roadking]

The Supermarine Swift circa 1950; this early era air superiority jet aircraft was designed with an afterburner that did not work at high altitude. The Supermarine Swift is classical "Haste makes waste". It was designed and developed just too fast. Nothing else need be said.

Then again - in the RAF's great tradition of "make do and bend" (the Typhoon of course being another, earlier example), it DID turn out to have a longlived career in a role it was thus suited to....fast, lowlevel photo recce!

[waldzee]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/au ... ncampbell2
Exploding Snails?
Bad itchy swim suits?

Sexy cold cream??
On one occasion, a former lover was recruited to kill him, according to Peter Moore, producer of the new film. The woman was given poison pills by the CIA, and she hid them in her cold cream jar. But the pills melted and she decided that, all things considered, putting cold cream in Castro's mouth while he slept was a bad idea. According to this woman, Castro had already guessed that she was aiming to kill him and he duly offered her his own pistol. "I can't do it, Fidel," she told him.....

And in the grandest vision of all, Vankin and Whalen describe a false prophet: "Perhaps the most visionary proposal came from the fertile mind of General Edward Lansdale, who supervised the Kennedy Administration's covert war on Castro. The general hoped to spark a counterrevolution by spreading the word to devout Cuban Catholics that the Second Coming was imminent and that Castro was none other than the anti-Christ. At the appointed hour, Christ, Himself, would surface off the shores of Cuba aboard an American submarine as star shell flares illuminated the heavens. In a pique of Cold War rapture, it was hoped, the Cubans would rise up and spontaneously overthrow their satanic leader."

In the war against communism, the American government contemplated invoking no less a figure than Jesus Christ. John Wayne would have been proud.

http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/castro/

[Venttiseiska]

How about this Soviet behemoth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_279 ?

Object 279 was build to withstand the shockwave from a nuclead warhead exploding nearby !

[Helmut0815]

I would clearly vote for Project Pluto/Vought SLAM.

A nuclear ramjet powered supersonic cruise missile flying at low altitude with a speed of Mach 3 leaving a trace of destruction caused by its shockwave and contaminating everything along its route with radioactive fallout. The ordnance would have consisted of 16 thermonuclear warheads of 1 MT each. After all bombs were dropped it was proposed to fly around over the USSR for hours or days causing more destruction and radioactive contamination. At the end of reactor lifetime it would have crashed into some city turning it into inhabitable wasteland.

Bizarre. Insane. Thank God it was never completed.

http://www.merkle.com/pluto/pluto.html

regards

Helmut

[ChristopherPerrien]

Wasn't there landmine that looked like "dog poop"?

Which begs he question who would step on it, if they saw it?

[ChristopherPerrien]

I would clearly vote for Project Pluto/Vought SLAM.

A nuclear ramjet powered supersonic cruise missile flying at low altitude with a speed of Mach 3 leaving a trace of destruction caused by its shockwave and contaminating everything along its route with radioactive fallout. The ordnance would have consisted of 16 thermonuclear warheads of 1 MT each. After all bombs were dropped it was proposed to fly around over the USSR for hours or days causing more destruction and radioactive contamination. At the end of reactor lifetime it would have crashed into some city turning it into inhabitable wasteland.

Bizarre. Insane. Thank God it was never completed.

http://www.merkle.com/pluto/pluto.html

regards

Helmut

Sounds good for people you don't like.

[Kingfish]

Wasn't there landmine that looked like "dog poop"?

Which begs he question who would step on it, if they saw it?

If Cheech Marin was your squad leader he'd order you to do everything but step in it

[Habu]

After an umbrella that shot pellets of ricin was actually used, I'm not sure I could see any Cold War weapon as "bizarre."

[LWD]

Davy Crocket might fit the definition. Compare the range vs the leathal radius.

[phylo_roadking]

Certainly the 1.1 mile-range M28 version is questionable....but the 2.5 mile M29 Davy Crockett makes much more sense. Also....

Both recoilless guns proved to have poor accuracy in testing, so the shell's greatest effect would have been its extreme radiation hazard. The M-388 would produce an almost instantly lethal radiation dosage (in excess of 10,000 rem) within 500 feet (150 m), and a probably fatal dose (around 600 rem) within a quarter mile (400 m).

...even the M28 was technically speaking "survivable" at its maximum range Given time to dig in beforehand and get below ground level...

And after all they were only a ~1.5 dekaton yield - hardly going to set the world alight, that! (ahem!) Dropped into a valley, or into an autobahn cutting...the launch team, curled up in the bottom of a trench, would be able to ride out the other direct weapon effects.

[phylo_roadking]

After writing the above - I went hunting on Youtube! Here's the Davy Crockett being tested....



Admittedly, if it was being fired AT me my opinion might be very different....but it's not that impressive! And I see they do (did?) regard entrenchment as sufficient protection against the weapon's direct effects