Suitcase Nukes: Real Threat or Myth?

A quick look at the state of the art on suitcase nukes.

Hollywood gave up on using Nazis as movie villains a while back. Is the demise of another favorite movie threat far behind?

A reality check from KATHERINE SHRADER, AP reporting at Breitbart:

Members of Congress have warned about the dangers of suitcase nuclear weapons. Hollywood has made television shows and movies about them. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency has alerted Americans to a threat—information the White House includes on its Web site.

But government experts and intelligence officials say such a threat gets vastly more attention than it deserves. These officials said a true suitcase nuke would be highly complex to produce, require significant upkeep and cost a small fortune.

Counterproliferation authorities do not completely rule out the possibility that these portable devices once existed. But they do not think the threat remains.

"The suitcase nuke is an exciting topic that really lends itself to movies," said Vahid Majidi, the assistant director of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. "No one has been able to truly identify the existence of these devices."

Hard to believe the suitcase nuke isn't the threat it used to be. Hard to believe.

So hard, in fact, we turned to our counter-terrorism expert, Code Name: pat. What'd he have to say?

The USA actually designed and made such products as far back as 1958 or so. They are not very powerful. .20 KT And have other problems. Google Davy Crockett for a bit of background on miniature nukes.

We will not be hit by a mini nuke, but a full on 20K weapon.

So the suitcase nuke is complex and costs a fortune to put together. But terrorists have time on their hands and money, so the suitcase nuke isn't going anywhere soon.

At least in the public's imagination.

by Mondoreb
[hat tip: pat]
[image:AP]



Back to Front Page.