B-52 crews pull shades on nukes

(Credit: USAF)

Having your shadow scorched into the wall is one drawback to detonating a nuclear weapon; being blinded by the flash (PDF) and not being able to drive away in your B-52 Stratofortress is another.

Now engineers at the 540th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron's B-52 Communications Navigation and Weapons Flight have designed a thermal curtain that could protect aircrews from that blinding light (PDF).

The curtain resembles a common windshield sunshade used in passenger cars, except these cost $2,500 for a seven-shade set. Measuring about a tenth of an inch thick, 40 inches to 50 inches long, and 30 inches tall, each curtain is made up of three layers--a reflective layer, a stiffener, and a rubberized vinyl cloth.

The design is elegant in its simplicity, flight chief William Plasters said in an interview. "The new design is simple, quick to install, and can be removed easily to perform maintenance, or when not required."

When not in or around a nuclear holocaust, the curtains can be removed and stored in a bag. In fact, the Air Force wants them broken out for official use only, and not as common sunshades, which causes them to wear out sooner.

Air Force officials "suggest" that aircrews and maintenance personnel in the habit of deploying them for shade during warm weather switch to common fabric sunshades, which cost only $300.

[dascha1]

Folks, don't bother responding to this, it's another troll piece and they are disparate of readers.

[Perry_Clease]

I thought they already such curtains on B52s, I am assuming that this is an improved version.

[assman]

article isn't very clear but "The new design is simple, quick to install, and can be removed easily to perform maintenance, or when not required."

[Perry_Clease]

Thanks Assman. Years ago I had a friend who flew in B52s during the Cold War, as a crewman, not a pilot. I remember him saying something about the plane having curtains and using a CCTV system to see ahead when the cockpit was blacked out.

[Electro_Fox]

Who's the gal in the Army hoodie? Can she help with my FJ Cruiser? The afternoon sun (Oh, and nukes too...) is aggravating...

[willdryden]

My daughter so watch your mouth

[terminalblue]

why is something like this even necessary? no country should even use nuclear weapons in the first place.


disgusting.

[Perry_Clease]

Do you want some fries with that kumbaya :)

[hador_nyc]

Um, maybe you're too young to remember the Cold War? That's why we have the nukes. About 20 countries have them, with a few more on the way. While I share your sentiment that it would be nice if they didn't exist, their sheer power alone makes that dream unlikely until something even more powerful replaces them.

As to the article, well, it's just silly. These curtains have been there since the first Buff rolled off the production lines back in the 50s. It looks to me that the only new thing is that they made a newer version that's easier to replace. That's not exactly news. Hell, you can see them in the HBO movie from the late 80s or early 90s called 'By Dawns Early Light" which is about a limited nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR in a classic Cold War scenario.

[sythara]

The US nuclear doctarine is for a retaliatory measure. As in the US will never be the agressor in a nuclear war. And yes, no country should ever use nuclear weapons because in a nuclear war everyone loses. But if we ever get attacked with nukes, I would feel much better knowing that whoever launched at us will be annihilated too. That is what is known as mutually assured destruction, and probably the reason nukes weren't used since their trial run in Japan.

Never understood why we need B-52s with nukes though. B-1 can do a much better job at it. That, or an SSBN or ground launched ICBMs are far more reliable. But I guess nuclear triad consept is what makes people feel safer.

[dredgerie]

I never stop learning. When I was in the military, we flew planes. They didn't drive them. How things change.

[tech_crazy]

I read that the reliability of the planes has gone so bad that the pilots prefer to drive them (on the ground) than fly them (in the air) :)

[jaxstephens]

This was kind of a lame article. What's the point?

[DigitalFrog]

I wonder if they got the idea from here: http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2008-12-16/

[sythara]

lol.

What they are forgetting is the gamma radiation emmited during a nuclear blast. The shades will protect against the ir, visible, and uv radiation. But unless they line B-52 with lead gamma radiation will pass right through.

Unless I'm wrong here, if yes please correct me.

[gjl229]

There are some complex scenarios to play with here. One suggests that the aircraft is operating at an altitude measured in hundreds of feet and perhaps underneath the propagation of the gamma radiation while still exposed to visual light dispersed by the atmosphere and/or reflected from cloud cover. As you say, gamma radiation tends to penetrate rather than be reflected.

We can at least agree that the light shield would, all else being equal, allow the crew to return safely for treatment for the gamma exposure.

[sythara]

Very true

[writeman830]

I used to work on these ThermalNuclear Radiation Flash Barrier Curtains on BUFs. two or four of them were on rollers and you pulled a string to close them. The other windows had curtains you just pushed into place. The material was $150/yd at the time in the late 70's. They were a PAIN to take out and reinstall. Every alert called required closing them and holding a light outside to see any pinholes so the AC and Copilot didn't get drilled after a drop from the flash. These curtains with one pinhole, could redball an entire plane grounding it until we got it fixed. We worked in the cockpit on a two man team system (Human Reliability Program, was Personal Reliability Program, or vice versa). This wasn't too bad unless its 3am and winter, freezing and you were upside down in the pilot seat, not to mention the concern for the 7 red tags so you didn't accidentally deploy the seat into the ground. Which would be bad.