In honor of April (Easter) Fool's, I thought it would be fun to take a look at an idea that...well, seems like it could be a bit foolhardy.
Like something straight out of an arcade shoot-em-up, Lockheed Martin is now (attempting?) to strap micronized fusion (nuclear) reactors to stealth fighter jets in what I hope is not a misguided attempt to deliver nuclear munitions with a technique that would have been fashionable in the World War 2 era.
For those who don't regularly follow developments in aeronautics (or, in other words, normal people,) you may not be aware of Lockheed Martin's recent problems. They are currently responsible for the "most expensive military weapons system in history," which is really just a fancy way of saying they have absolutely botched the development of the F-35A Lightning II.
Critics around the world (mostly from NATO countries that may hope to field the Jet have called it "plagued with design flaws" and vastly overpriced. By 2014, the project was a shocking 7 years behind schedule and $163 billion over budget ($465 over-budget per every American), yet is still often seen as too big to kill due to the sunk cost.
Remember this the next time you file your taxes - you've probably already kicked in a year's worth of returns to this project that may never produce a (cost-efficient) serviceable aircraft!
April Fool's...on all of us.
Anyway, back to our headline...some crooked bureaucrat diligent public servant decided these were the competent engineers and corporate employees to trust with the task of strapping a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier's nuclear reactor worth of power onto a jet that can probably exceed triple the speed of sound. This is an amount of power that would run approximately 80,000 residential homes.
I guess this means we are back to designing piloted bombs.
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it could be amazing to have that kind of tech, but so far i've only seen a submarine with that kind of tech.
I never heard of a plane having a nuclear reactor on its engine. It needs a load of metal packaging to make it possible and safe for the pilot. I think it will be possible soon but not with this current technology we have. It needs more study and advancement of technology.
Yep, that would appear to be why they are filing design patents. No idea how close they are.
There was a nuclear weapon developed that was sort of a flying drone. It was nuclear powered and had some sort of a nuclear warhead. It's main goal however was "area denial" type capabilities. When flying around it's designated target area it spewed out radioactive matter from it's engine causing the land it's flying over to become radioactively contaminated before ultimately detonating at it's target location. So basically just using that tech, without those safety features, as a design element. Pretty scary stuff.
And the current technology is.........free energy. Oops you mean there is no fuel? Just air?
Are you saying that eventually humanity will self-destruct? I am speaking in parables.
micronized fusion (nuclear) reactors
No such thing. They don't exist.
Yeah, I think you've properly identified a key factor in why I'm not too optimistic about the success of this project.
That's not what I have heard. People have told me that their are 5th generation nukes the size of a Rubiks cube. If that is indeed true then I don't see why we don't have micronized reactors. Then again it may be B.S!
Fission and Fusion are not the same thing.
Continuous Fusion has not been accomplished ...yet.
the FIRST generation fusor does not yet exist..
As far as fission...a small nuke explosive is indeed possible..has been for fifty years.
An explosive device is NOT the same thing as a reactor.
The closest thing to a 'flyable' nuke power reactor are LFTR's (liquid flouride Thorium reactors)..
they haven't been developed yet. Last they've been worked on was at Oak Ridge Tenn in the sixties (I think)..the 'problem' with them is that didn't go boom. Couldn't be MADE to go boom..so the military industrial complex wasn't interested. No work has been done on them since.
There were patent documents filed recently (Feb) for this jet. Not sure if it's brand new tech or what, I'm a bit rusty on new reactor tech.
Some images on the patent docs:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-30/lockheed-martin-patents-nuclear-fusion-powered-fighter-jet
zero hedge...riiiight.
I know a former patent attorney.
ANYTHING can be patented...even perpetual motion machines (many have been)
just because it's been patented doesn't mean it works.
show me a working model..then I MIGHT believe it.
not just fusion powered aircraft...ANYTHING.
"zero hedge...riiiight."
Not sure what the objection is here. These are publicly filed documents of record.
"just because it's been patented doesn't mean it works."
Yeah, I'm not saying it's real. Just that they came up with the idea and claim to be trying it.
I have actually reviewed patents for an engine that claimed to run on water. LOL.
Didn't quite pan out.
I've read 'zero-hedge' for a number of years. I finally quit. I suspect that it's a 'false-flag' operation.
yes u right
I remember seeing a video of them trying to make one fail and it wouldn't, meaning it worked. I also heard that they discontinued safe nuclear reactors because they didn't get fissionable material out of them. It pissed me off when I heard John Kerry saying we would never build a reactor again when I new we had a safe one in our pocket. Thanks for the education.
you're welcome.
IF (when) Thorium reactors are 'perfected' (nothing is perfect) then our energy future is assure.
IF (maybe not so when...Fusion is a hard problem) is accomplished...then even more so.
With sufficient energy almost anything is possible. Fusion will give us that.
you are real hero our world thanks for information
Hahahahahahaha, good one on the normal people... From time to time I take a dose of Science Daily, and go through the varying section an you read these futuristic jets, I did not think tax payers dollars were funding them, but then again, if Tesla got a loan from the government and paid it off anything is possible... I know you like your friends at Tesla, hahahahaha
Oh, we're always paying for all the new military toys. Begrudgingly.
Have you never done the research on this subject...? The US Air Force fighter planes were ordered to remain in a holding pattern and were not dispatched because...coincidentally, there was a major military exercise taking place at the same time...involving commercial aircraft being hijacked over American airspace. So, as the story goes, the military was simply following the "rules of engagement" for the military exercise, essentially indicating that this was the root cause of confusion that resulted in the delayed response of armed aircraft.
"Have you never done the research on this subject...?"
Have you never read the article? (sic)
What the heck does this comment even mean? You seem to be trying...weird spam if so.
Amazing how expensive the sunk-cost fallacy can be. Reminds me of the 'Big Dig' in Boston.
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Happy April fools day! Those photos are nice.
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Ide yang sangat bagus.
Nice @lexiconical, And don't forget to re upvote my articles..
You can never use first picture If know about Asia(Japan)'s history.
I am very angry and affectionate.
I want you to encourage me not to write that picture.
I'm not sure what you're on about. I can use whatever photo I like, and cite.
"I am very angry and affectionate."
Well, that's confusing.
If factual references to Japanese history offend you, well, go read Facebook or something.
The war criminal is a flag that embraces the ambition of conquering Japan on the mainland and the war, massacre and disaster resulting from it.
It is recommended to compare with the current flag.
I do not know in what sense you have posted a firearm. But if you know what it means, you are a really bad... More cruel than Nazi military...
The United States would have lost family and friends due to Japanese attacks.
Your family may be one of them.
There is no future for the people who have forgotten history.
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Not too far from what the Russians did with this project ---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL
Good Post :)
The shots are very great, nice post!
Lol...cool
It Really Amazing and wonderful. Really informative articles.
Hmm.. Nuclear Jet.. Not an impossibility but it has to be merged with another technology and that is an unmanned jet. So an unmanned, nuclear jet is not impossible.
wow nice information thanks
Good April fool's joke.
This is wrong in so many ways. I can just imagine them being shot down, and then the problem of nuclear waste wherever they travel.
This Jets very safe
You pegged it (SteemEngine). You can take that 2 ways.
yeah, they "botched" it all the way to the bank!
I'd be lying if I said that didn't sound pretty fucking awesome. If such a plane were to crash it wouldn't have a nuclear detonation, at worse there would be some radioactive debris in the area of the crash if whatever they have containing the nuclear material were to fail, something it would be designed not to do. This would be a jet that would never need to land or be refueled, that would be awesome. maybe in a decade or two we will all have nuclear powered cars/personal drones.