There used to be a live fire exercise at Tyndall AFB, Florida, called "William Tell" in which various fighters had the chance to shoot at live targets that were remotely controlled. The targets were usually older fighters like the F-100 and later the F-4, that were being retired, so they got used for target practice. Most of the fighters were shooting radar or infrared guided missiles, but the F-106 and the Voodoos could fire a training version of the Genie (ATR for Air Training Rocket) that had a dummy warhead instead of the nuclear warhead. Remember it was an unguided rocket that the pilot aimed by aiming the aircraft before shooting. In William Tell 1982, one of the F-106s scored an actual kill on a drone F-100 from 2 miles away when the ATR speared the F-100 just behind the cockpit, blowing it to pieces. That would be like hitting a running squirrel with a bow and arrow from the other side of a football stadium--an incredible shot!

@JKa244

7 ай бұрын

These days they use subscale and F16s but it's much the same. Live fire is rare, munitions are guided (so it's mostly radar and simulation) but still happens

@bricethompson6382

7 ай бұрын

Wow!

@ctdieselnut

7 ай бұрын

Wow, good aim and just plain luck.

@TheMonkey747

7 ай бұрын

'Use the Force, Luke.' 'Aim Small, Miss Small.'

@mysterioanonymous3206

7 ай бұрын

For anyone interested.... William Tell (Wilhelm Tell) is the Swiss folk hero credited with starting the insurrection that lead to the foundation and independence of early Switzerland (more like a precursor state - the four forest cantons). He famously shot an apple off his sons head with his crossbow (having been forced to do so by an imperial warlord tasked with subjugating the region - in fact, my region)...

in 1957, at Aerojet-General in Sacramento I worked in the solid rocket engineering team that produced the motor for the Genie. It was the 2KS-36,250 (2 sec nominal burn time, 36,250-lbf nominal thrust), with potassium perchlorate oxidized propellant. In those days, Genie was a SECRET and TOP SECRET project, often called the DM-14 [Douglas motor], Ace-Hi, Ding-Dong as code names. During development we static test fired these motors at minus 60 degrees F, up to 140F; they were drop tested, vibrated, and always performed correctly.

@RCAvhstape

7 ай бұрын

Cool post. I am currently re-reading John Clark's book "Ignition!" about those days of rocket propellant research. Mostly focuses on liquid propellants though.

@sski

7 ай бұрын

Awesome! The host needs to see this post. I bet you're a wealth of info regarding this, and maybe other Cold War - era devices. This one is absolutely fascinating to me how 'simple' the architecture is yet its 'safety systems' were practically non-existent save 'not moving fast enough' LoL! I know all about rifle grenade systems and how they don't arm until their fuses sense a certain number of revolutions. Is it the same thing, only with speed? Or is there a physics element that takes place at top speed?

@rocketscienceinstituteinc8993

7 ай бұрын

Highly-compartmented, as most late 1950s missile projects were, even the Aerojet motor design and development were very classified. No one had yet guessed that the USA would fly an air-to-air nuclear defense missile. I was privy to company-private and confidential propellant formulations and grain design. Of course, specific impulse (Isp) was above all the main parameter for Genie performance. How many pounds of thrust could be squeezed from a motor of X diameter and Y weight? USAF specified those dimensions, and Aerojet-General competed with Thiokol to mass produce the rocket motors. Aerojet used aluminum-boosted perchlorate HTPB formulations mixed in 3,200-lb modified bread mixers. Thiokol was still making more conventional solid fuels in 1950s, so Aerojet provided more boost power per pound of propellant at operating altitude and temperatures. For comparison, and Boeing 737 engine yields perhaps 30,000-lbf thrust max. Genie has a [classified] nominal performance of better than Isp 260 ... meaning a pound of propellant produces 260-lbf thrust (for one second). Liquid fuels yield much more Isp.

@sski

7 ай бұрын

@@rocketscienceinstituteinc8993 Fantastic! So you folks at Aerojet were pushing new grounds when it came to fuel formulas that we take for granted today, pretty much. And that's what gave that Genie such incredible punch in the 'horsepower' department. I'm surprised that the pilot that had one go off at an angle in his bay didn't cut the plane in two through welding action. Those must have been amazing times, accomplishing something like that. Thank you so much for explaining these things!

@RCAvhstape

7 ай бұрын

@@rocketscienceinstituteinc8993 That Isp compares favorably to hypergolic liquids, impressive.

My 1970s high school shop class received some donated government surplus hardware including one of those rolling yellow missile cradles. I remember it being gray but the shape is unmistakeable. Teacher was a vet and assured us it was for an atomic bomb! We learned to cut & weld by converting it to mount a Chevy V-8, then a few weeks making it run. It was used to teach engine class for years afterwards.

@sski

7 ай бұрын

Cool!

I was a Nuclear Weapons Technician in the USAF in the early 1970s and maintained Genies at two bases in the US. One on the east coast and in the Pacific northwest.

@fdk7014

7 ай бұрын

You maintained nukes? I understand you can't talk much about that work but as I understand it nukes require a lot of maintenance, including refreshing the radioactive material every 10 years or so. In your opinion, what is the likelihood that all of Russia's enormous stockpile of nukes has been properly maintained throughout the years? Given that Russia's economy is far smaller than the US's and thus the military spending is a small fraction of what the US spends (not to mention the massive corruption in the Russian army) I suspect that only a very small part of Russia's claimed nuclear weapons cache is properly maintained and actually work. What do you think about that?

@arthurschalick2362

7 ай бұрын

@@fdk7014 We did very little with the warhead in the field. That word was done at a depot. Most of our work was making sure the rocket motor was in working order.

@fdk7014

7 ай бұрын

@@arthurschalick2362 I see. Thanks for replying anyway

@ivancho5854

7 ай бұрын

​@@fdk7014I agree. There's no doubt that Russia hasn't maintained their nuclear arsenal. They may however have maintained some of it and considering how deadly they are they have to still be considered a viable threat. I do think that the Pentagon will be aware of an order to ready nuclear weapons the minute that it is given. Btw I personally doubt that Putin has sent anything but empty launchers to Belarus. The security risk is too high for one or all of them to end up in Belarusian hands. All the best. Slava Ukraine. 🇺🇦🇬🇧

@fdk7014

7 ай бұрын

@@ivancho5854I agree, they probably do have maybe a couple of hundred functioning warheads which is bad enough but most of it is probably garbage or it never existed in the first place. The money for them were pocketed long time ago and spent on luxury boats in the Mediterranean. I agree with the Belarusian launchers as well. Putin doesn't trust anyone and certainly not Lukashenko.

I like this video because there is a good rythm of narration and sources (images, footage). The narrator speaks well, clearly and normally and appears to know what he is talking about. A very pleasant video to watch and learn. Thanks.

This is fascinating! It's funny how so many years later he still remembers standing in a warm room, watching the load teams do their jobs, and thinking "Man... I'm glad that is not me."

@willie417

7 ай бұрын

yeah, working on the fight line, in the winter in the cold at night, good times 🤨😐

Now I understand why, in this episode of "Star Trek" where they went back to the past, they fear that the fighter has nuclear missiles and can destroy even a super spaceship.

@kdrapertrucker

7 ай бұрын

Yes, they were designed to take out formations of Soviet nuclear bombers.

@barahng

7 ай бұрын

We had all sorts of fun "low yield" nuclear weapons that were intended to be used in a battlefield role rather than as a strategic "kill a city" device during the Cold War. One of my favorites was the SUBROC system. It was a torpedo tube launched rocket, it surfaced, flew through the air, and would drop a *250 kiloton nuclear depth charge* to destroy enemy subs in a very wide radius. Humorously, the last sentence of the "Operation" section on the Wikipedia page states "A direct hit was not required". For comparison, the infamous Baker test from Operation Crossroads that sunk 8 ships at Bikini Atoll, was "only" 23 kilotons.

@atomicskull6405

7 ай бұрын

@@barahng Russia *still* maintains a stockpile of battlefield nukes and delivery systems. They see it as an counter for superior NATO conventional forces.

@kenlowder6932

7 ай бұрын

I remember that scene. I always wondered why they said that.

@MalachiWhite-tw7hl

7 ай бұрын

Regrettably that F-104 could not utilize the Genie.

Great to see info on the Genie..... I remember as an Air Cadet - we went on tour to Comox, and stayed in Barracks on Base. We were warned to NOT take pictures in a certain direction or of a certain building (where the Genies were stored, apparently). Someone DID... and the Military Police quickly showed up and confiscated the offender's camera, removed the film and confiscated it. He eventually got the film back - minus the photos of the buildings concerned...... When I joined the Air Force in 1985, my first posting was to 447 Sqn - one of the Squadrons who were equipped with the Bomarc missiles - the OTHER Nukes that the RCAF had, although I joined when they were equipped with CH-47C Chinook Helicopters. We DID obtain and do a cosmetic restoration of a Bomarc Missile - and it is now on display at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton, AB.

@Nighthawke70

7 ай бұрын

The BOMARC had potentially hazardous thoriated magnesium in the structure, FYI.

@marvinhaagsma9177

7 ай бұрын

In the 70s I was watching a pair of Voodoos taxiing at Comox through my binoculars when a green van stopped in front of me and an MP stepped out and asked “What are you doing looking into the Nuclear weapons storage compound?” This was the first I’d heard about nuclear weapons in Canada (I was an Officer Cadet at the time) so I merely stated that I was just watching the planes. Anyhoo, the moniker “Meathead” was well deserved by that moron.

Point of order. The cameraman did not know he was going to get nuked that day. He did not volunteer.

I love the picture of the ground crew with a live Genie on a handler/loader marked "Explosive". Talk about understatements,

The neutron blast from the Genie wasn't intended to kill crews (they'd take so long to die that they could complete their missions), but to "denature" the plutonium in the soviet weapons, making it more radioactive and the bombs likely to "fizzle" instead of fully detonating It nmay sound paradoxical but bomb-grade plutonium is LESS radioactive than other isotopes and extra radioactivity inside the weapon can cause premature reactivity during the implosion process which destabilises the timing and may result in one side blowing out of the weapon before full criticality is achieved

@appa609

7 ай бұрын

There's no way a remote momentary shower of neutrons would transmute any meaningful amount of plutonium

@miscbits6399

7 ай бұрын

@@appa609 perhaps but that was the stated intention of the device (detonation within 1/2 mile of the targets and at high altitude the neutron blast goes much further than near sea level) Incidentally this was ALSO the original intention of enhanced emission bombs (neutron bombs) of the 1970s - to wreck the warheads of incoming ICBM MIRVs at altitude (Antiballistic missiles) These were repurposed in the face of the ABM treaty bans as the dreaded "neutron bombs" of 1980s propaganda, intended to irradiate Soviet tank crews in the Fulda Gap (the soviets responded by lining their tanks with thick layers of polyethelyene, which would absorb a neutron pulse) so the weapons were negated within months of announcement Let's just be glad that none of these proposed uses were ever tested in anger

Load toad here. Thank you for recognizing us Lt.Col Marleau.

While the speaker does have a moderate knowledge of the AIR 2A version shown in video, there are quite a bit of inconsistencies in the presentation. The Nav has the aircrew knowledge of what the weapon is supposed to do and how to deliver it to the area required to be effective, it is the Armourer who did the hands on work of storing and maintaining the rocket. I was a load crew member and then a rocket maintainer and worked alongside the USAF detachment to ensure the highest degree of safety and security possible to have these weapons ready at a moments notice. Armament load crews loaded these rockets and these men and women were true professionals in their profession of Air Weapons Systems Technicians. Two per aircraft along with two missiles carried externally. Two man concept in everything you did. Burn time was 10.2 secs not 2 secs. pilots, nav's and armourers made a formidable team during our Cold War posture. Cheers.

@yo.mama100

7 ай бұрын

He says they would die from radiation I doubt that highly I would say first their aircraft would be hit with an EMP and then they would crash

@neilturner6749

7 ай бұрын

I’ve read that burn time was indeed 2 seconds and total max flight time was 10 seconds ie a coast of 8 seconds following burnout (there was no sustainer motor) ?

@TheCleric42

7 ай бұрын

The narrator goes on about how horrific the Genie was, but misunderstands the whole point. Yes, the Genie uses a small nuke to destroy a Soviet bomber. But it explodes over CANADA, not the US. So it’s perfectly safe from the American perspective.

@timmeinschein9007

7 ай бұрын

@@TheCleric42 Actually a small nuke (a true airburst without anything from the ground being sucked up which makes 95% of the fallout that is dangerous) is preferable to a 15MT going off at the proper distance above a Canadian or US City to cause the maximum amount of death!!!

@jj-eg5up

7 ай бұрын

Oh boy. You should listen closer to what the guy says. You were a bit too excited to make a good comment.

The idea of putting Genie is Starfighters is frightening. Who wants a nuclear armed lawn dart in their back yard?

@SupremeOverlord10

6 ай бұрын

I do!

Thanks again, for such great detail and in-depth coverage. As a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s, I knew about these, but had no idea that they were so crude and dangerous. I thought it was basically a nuclear fire and forget system.

Such an entertaining speaker! This was great to watch. Thank you both.

Air second ammendment 2. Genie. PERFECT.

The algorithm has been serving me your videos lately and I am grateful. These interviews are great and I wanted to say thank you for providing a unique Canadian perspective. Please continue to do so! I find it fascinating and I feel like these stories and perspectives are not explored or shared nearly as much or as broadly as they should be.

Great video, great interview, great guest!

Thanks. During the late 50's, my father was stationed at El Toro, MCFS. A great video. Brought back memories.

Ooooh! This is quite interesting. I built models of a lot of military missiles, including the Genie, though I never knew a lot about it. The amusement park my family used to regularly visit (Gwynn Oak Amusement Park) concealed an antiaircraft battery until the Nike Missile system became operational. The Nike was also a short-range nuclear missile intended to knock out Soviet Bombers, but ground-launched. There are several former Nike Sites near me, the closest about three miles away.

@Shinzon23

7 ай бұрын

I'm not finding anything on this... what was the state/province?

@fredblonder7850

7 ай бұрын

@@Shinzon23 Baltimore, Maryland. Gwynn Oak Amusement Park was along Gwynns Falls, adjacent to Woodlawn Cemetery. After the big hurricane (Isabel?) there was enough damage to the rides, that the park shut down and the salvageable rides sold off. I think the “Wild Mouse” went to Ocean City and the carousel is now installed in front of the Smithsonian “Castle” on the National Mall. The land the park occupied was sold to Baltimore City, which now operates it as “Gwynn Oak Park”, a public city park.

I was at CFB Comox as a Weapons Air Tech in 71. The American Security on the base was really fussy who got near any of their weapons storage areas. Only allowed to be in the Hangar watching a load 1 time. EOD was my main reason to be there. That was accessible & kind of fun.

Great video, Gilles...👍

Tupolev's Tu-16 bombers carrying nukes... makes for a pretty grim rendition of "Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, mushroom, mushroom..."

@AllisterCaine

7 ай бұрын

You made me feel old. Feel ashamed of yourself.

And the reason it wasn't very effective is the blast radius is just too small. Intercontinental bombers were not going to be like WW2 bomber formations, they were going to be spread out by many miles. It's likely that the Genie would only get one bomber, maybe two.

@Iknowtoomuchable

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, but you ain't gonna miss that son of a bitch.

@JackEnneking

7 ай бұрын

That's what I thought! 300m does not seem like a large sphere of effect from miles away with no guidance.

@jakelandry5645

7 ай бұрын

'One bomber, maybe 2" is a few hundred million maybe 2, people not dead. 🤷🏿‍♂️

@DragNetJoe

7 ай бұрын

@@jakelandry5645 The point I was making is that unguided rockets like Genie, even with a nuke warhead, were not very effective and guided missiles were more effective. Once guided missiles came on the scene there was really no point.

@jakelandry5645

7 ай бұрын

@@DragNetJoe as the general order of the natural evolution of tech goes, I guess. There was a lot about the "cold war" that was both unnecessary and unethical, with a staggering amount of collateral damage. Like the "Slam" missile I believe it's called, for example. I don't understand humans innate sense of cruel self destruction. We're supposed to be programmed to survive, not figure out the most grotesque way of killing each other off with the most amount of suffering².

From 74 thru 77 I was part of a weapons load crew on the 101s, cross trained on B and C load positions... Worked out of Chatham and Gander... This short video brought back some fond memories...

Interesting at 13:39 interviewer is querying about some safe code challenge to arm the warhead and his response is basically it's already live, it's just a verbal handshake. Real safe.

Gilles excellent again and as always you look marvelous. I wish I owned as many suits as you do but down south here you could only wear in January and February.

2023: I was a tour guide at the Kennedy Space Center "Red Tour" back in 1993 and this is one of the displays that I told people about. At the time it was in use, I feel that it was a usable solution for the Air Force. I've got a picture of my wife at Sheppard AFB Tx next to an F-101 When they were still in service, an F-100 and a KC-97 in 1972. So Was I Thank You

7:30 Weapons Systems Officer's perspective. 20:40 Rocket accident.

I used to Guard them at Duluth...well actually the F 106's that carried them.

Interesting, at first I thought it was British warheads on the Canadian genies, but it makes perfect sense for them to have been US ordnance since it would have been a joint effort to defend the shared continent.

I was in the Canadian Forces in the early 1980’s and spent some time at CFB Comox, where the weapon was operational. They were kept in a separate compound and heavily guarded by USAF personnel. Pilots often referred to the Genie as a “Bucket of Sunshine”.

Well I guess they could say "the genie is out of the bottle".

Thanks for all that information. Being someone who grew up in the Cold War and who has a fascination with military subjects, I knew a LITTLE about the Genie. However, I never caught the fact that Genie was an unguided weapon! I am also interested in my government's enthusiasm to shoot nuclear warheads into Canadian airspace. Lastly, I had never read about the RCAF using the Genie. Thanks for all the good stuff!

IT WAS ONE OF THESE,--THAT FELL OFF A PLANE AT RENDALSHAM -U.S BASE, (U.K.)--AND WITHOUT EXPLODING,-DEMOLISHED 2 CONCRETE BUNKERS,--AND STOPPED SPINNING,-RIGHT AT THE FOOT OF A "SECURITY-GUARD"--"U.S.A.F.=BROKEN-ARROW'S"--CASE "3232" (1989)

Lot of cool history like this getting forgotten.....I grew up around a Nike missile base,we used to play in the empty silos when I was a kid in the 80s

@BadOompaloompa79

7 ай бұрын

You from Alaska?

When you look at a Genie up close you get a sudden appreciation for how small a nuclear warhead can be made.

@miscbits6399

7 ай бұрын

They're still bigger than they need to be. The "Snoopy" (suitcase nuke) of various 1970s TV plots really did exist (mostly Soviet creations) and the W48, Davy Crockett or SADM were all small enough to qualify. Whether "nuclear briefcases" as depicted by Hollywood ever existed is speculation but such a device would be _extremely_ heavy for its size and someone trying to lug it around normally would probably be quite noticeable

When I was trained on these, I was told the lanyard was long enough to ensure the genie was clear of the weapons bay. Great to see my F-106 Red Bull at the 5:20 mark. I was told 30 feet of lanyard to light the rocket and, to arm, required 30g's. Our computer would set 1 of 16 ranges if the computer was working, Manually, the pilot could select 1 of 4 ranges. Apparently, the Canadians also used Tyndal AFB in Panama City to dummy fire these beasts.

@larry648

7 ай бұрын

I was at K.I. When the 87th was there too. 410th SPS. I worked that gate for the Alert hanger.

That was fun! We need more hangar flying sessions.

I visited that museum and it is good to see.

Amazing video. :)

I find the horror of the fact that a nuclear weapon to shoot down bombers amusing and shows that modern thinking is rather naïve. I just watched a fantastic video with Lord Tebbit who flew Meteors post WW2. The Russians had the bomb by then and had copied the B29 (Tu4?). The US would have an annual exercise simulating a Soviet attack by flying 300 to 450 B29s and the RAF would try to intercept. We weren't expecting a few nuclear armed bombers, there would have been HUNDREDS. The AIR-2 Genie was about the only effective deterrent and a bloody good idea.

Nice video

This is right up there with the Davey Crockett atomic weapon, which was fired from a recoiless rifle mounted on a jeep.

@gearheadgregwi

7 ай бұрын

My father was on guard when they were outfitting the ASROC depth charge.

"Time fuse"... 'Yeah, that will work.'

Correction: The USAF Officers were volunteers... the enlisted cameraman was ordered....

@navret1707

7 ай бұрын

Probably ordered to volunteer.

@timmeinschein9007

7 ай бұрын

@@navret1707 "Volun-Told"

So interresting!

Fun thing about the fallout from these: because it was such high altitude fallout was next to null. There’s no material at that altitude to contaminate, and radiation decays quickly in open air.

Pictures at an exhibition prominade.... My favourite

Carried by the 177th Fighter Interceptor Group at Atlantic City airport by F-106's. I grew up watching those birds.

High five to the load crews. The only way I can relate to the conditions is from watching Ice Pilots to understand what that cold is like.

Another awesome video, only just discovered this channel and I've almost completely binge watched every video. Please can you do a video on the PAL (Permissive Action Link) units in nuclear weapons. They've always really interested me, and there's not a whole lot of information out there, but if there's one man out there who has the contacts and can find out the info it'll probably be you Guinne!

We had two Voo doos in Val d'Or, Qc. There was a Genie compound - but I never actually saw one.

Watching this, I formally request a video on the nuclear landmines that were planned to deploy in Europe in the contingency event of a Soviet invasion.

I've never seen this in my life... with the intro I literally said to myself... "there has to be a bow tie involved here somewhere." With an intro that takes itself that seriously - there must be a bow tie involved.

It made sense at the time.

I would like to learn more about the NIKE projects. Supposed to be a few old sites around the Cincinnati metro area.

@elburropeligroso4689

7 ай бұрын

There is a restored Nike site near San Francisco, if you ever happen to be in the area.

Complete insanity , but hardly the worst

From the Air Weapons Controller viewpoint - We referred to the AIR2A (in macabre terms) as 'The Crowd Pleaser." The scary part was the practice for Release Authority - "Breaking the cookie" which is the plastic piece referred to that was used to authenticate release to use a nuclear weapon. Had to do that once as part of the 2-man team at a NORAD SAGE facility. There was no room for error. When we were told to proceed to authenticate release we had had to pull out the correct 'cookie' to break. There were a number of them in the box in the safe. IF you broke the wrong cookie - there would be he11 to pay. We are talking about documentation of what happened then up-chain reporting and the dung would flow down on you rapidly. So when we did the practice of getting notice and confirming 2 man release - neither one of us wanted to be the one to actually break the cookie. We got it right but,.... for that minute or two while you open the box, find the cookie, confirm it's the correct one, break it and compare that code to the one given to you by HQ release authority. That was a tense moment for two young LTs. By the way we heard the same thing from the F-106 pilots about the launch of an AIR-12A the sounds, the shaking etc. In live weapon use, the pilots would not look back but would be head down turned away, throttle max and getting as far away as possible. Of course the launchs at Tyndall were a different matter. Oh and 10 seconds it not a lot of time to turn the plane and get it belly toward the blast.

F-106 Delta Dart held the Genie and four Falcons internally for speed, now they do it mostly for stealth. I was born on Tyndall AFB 1960 in the base hospital. 318th FIS Green Dragons ,McChord AFB and the 5th FIS Spitten Kittens Minot AFB. USAF Brat 1960-1975

As someone who loves the F-4, it pisses me off that they used them as target drones. It's a crime I tell ya.

@neilturner6749

7 ай бұрын

Point taken, but there were just so many surplus F4 airframes by the early eighties that, as I’m sure you recognise and your post was tongue in cheek, other than the ignominious finality of the scrapyard, it did make practical sense to use them up as targets 😢

@luckyguy600

7 ай бұрын

No. The crime was using Cf-101's to do it! Rather, F-101's. ( I loaded them in Canada back in 71). Sort of ...

@kdrapertrucker

7 ай бұрын

Now it's the F-16 As turn to be targets.

@regel303

7 ай бұрын

The GIB/WSO's timeline with the RCAF is identical to mine as an Air Force WSO in the F-4 Phantom. You have excellent taste in weapon systems, @guard13007.

@gofoats

7 ай бұрын

@@kdrapertrucker But why shoot at them, they are still serviceable. Let's practice on SU-35s instead ;)

AIR-2 was knicknamed the "Blivit". Which was defined as 10lbs of, ahhh, "offal", in a 5lb bag! IOW, an overload of nastiness. When you absolutely, positively have be sure that the target is taken out, use a Blivit.

Fallout carried away by high altitude winds- to be generously spread round the entire for the benefit of all mankind...

5:00 On the Plumbob John shot, there was virtually zero fallout, period. Fallout is the result of the interaction between a nuclear blast and the ground. It is the dust and debris generated by the explosion, irradiated by the nuclear blast. As the John shot was done at 20,000 feet, the only fallout that would have been generated was from the missile itself, the steel and aluminum and all that of the missiles structure becoming fallout.

Excellent video. Great to see commentary by flight crew. I'd just like to add the first test was the 1955 Teapot Bee shot, not Redwing Osage.

@CanadianMacGyver

11 ай бұрын

Good catch! The records I consulted were unclear as to the actual warhead tested during Teapot Bee, so I went with Redwing Osage, which was better documented.

@Evan_Bell

11 ай бұрын

@@CanadianMacGyver Matching tests to particular devices is often a challenge. It's something that's taken up a lot of my time. As a Canadian, I imagine you may not be making future videos on other nuclear weapons aside from the W25 used by Canada, but if you ever do, I have many books and documents that may have details you may find useful and that I'd be happy to share.

@CanadianMacGyver

11 ай бұрын

The only reason I've only covered Canadian nuclear weapons so far is because I am located in Canada; in the future I plan to travel all over the US and other countries to cover a variety of topics. I also write scripts for 'Today I Found Out', and Cold War topics are a perennial favourite. Thus, I would be more than grateful for any documentation you can provide. :)

@Evan_Bell

11 ай бұрын

@@CanadianMacGyver Ah right, well I look forward to seeing more of you. I have a variety of documents related to specific nuclear weapons and the weapons complex in general. If you come to make a video about a particular weapon US weapon, give me a shout here and we can find a better platform on which to communicate and share files, and I'd be very happy to share what I have.

Air to air nuclear is fine, very little fallout, these are actually a brilliant idea given the time.

There's another way the AIR-2 Genie would be able to render inert an incoming bomber squadron even barring the "blow them out of the sky" or "kill the crew with radiation" methods. Nuclear fratricide. This is when the radiation from one atomic blast destroys the ability of follow-on atomic warheads to properly initiate the atomic chain reaction, by causing "premature detonation" due to high neutron flux of one blast causing nuclear reactions (and therefore a lot of unwanted nuclear reaction products) to be produced in the fissile pit of the next incoming atomic warhead. Now granted, this is more a theory developed for the ICBM age, and posited as a feasible means to defend against ballistic missiles (set off a small but radiation-intense nuclear blast "close enough" to an incoming ICBM and all the warheads it is carrying will not function correctly, even if it's not just flat out blown into smithereens, which again reduced the guidance needs of guided "shoot down the missile with another missile" type ICBM defenses), and a radiation event of sufficient magnitude to cause nuclear fratricide would likely still kill the crew (eventually), but I think it's still worthy of mentioning.

Actually very effective and very clean nuke

I could be wrong, but I remember being told as a kid in the 80s that the 177th fighter wing out of Atlantic City kept their F-106s for so long was because they were equipped with Genies.

This is Cold War gold!

I’m imagining the GIB having to use Microprose codewheel to launch the Genie.

Unguided, air-to-air, and nuclear. Three things that should not go together... Definition of overkill. "Let's just kill EVERYTHING".

The footage of the test crew smoking and laughing...

I'm getting more and more stuff for my Fallout fanfiction! :D

Sounds pretty crazy. There is another- the USN had a plan around the use of the B-57 nuke. The crazy part was the plan involved delivery of the weapon via helicopter.

Hey one of these popped up in the news recently! I guess someone had a blank in their garage.

@2:07 "The aerospace industry started scrambling". Was there a voice over a tannoy saying "SCRAMBLE! SCRAMBLE!"?

So with the speed of the Voodoo plane that missile would be going Mach 3.75 to 4 relative to the ground.

The photographer at the live test was not a "volunteer". Pretty sure he was a contractor, probably working for Lookout Mountain in LA. The AF officers were recruited by Barney Oldflield, a PR flack in the employ of the AF at the time. In WW2 he worked for Eisenhower. He later went to Hollywood. Sadly, all of them are dead now.

The Davy Crockett used the same warhead configured as a "neutron bomb" or enhanced radiation warhead of just 10 tons TNT equivalent. A 1.5 kiloton explosion at ten miles in the stratosphere wouldn't have the same blast effect that it would have had at under 10,000 feet as the one live test demonstrated. The bigger reason that the launching interceptor had to maximize distance was that the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) and enhanced neutron burst would fry the target aircraft's electronics at a greater distance than the blast and thermal pulse and immediate radiation would affect the target. When the target aircraft's electronics fried, there went the bomb aiming capability and the nuclear weapons on-board the target aircraft would have their fusing systems fried. How well this theoretical effect would function wasn't fully tested when the Genie was first fielded. Imagine that your navigation systems, your bomb aiming systems, the bomb itself were all rendered inert. There was a chance of making some bomb fuses explode from the EMP. The first atomic bomb missions had shorting plugs installed at take-off so that the radar stations on Tinian didn't cause premature detonation. That's in addition to anybody who was flash-blinded. American bomber crews practiced flying with an eye patch so when one eye was fried, the pilot could still see, still had a second chance.

What a fancy lad

Loose lips sink ships. Thanks for the Intel. Love, nmy

I think if you have a look at the Davey Crockett, you'll change your mind about the "most insane" weapon. Nuclear blast at high altitude is not a big "kill" mechanism against nuclear arms bombers. The effect that Genie produces was predetonation, also know as a fizzile. The bomb's nuclear material would react to the neutrons from the Genie blast and go critical, changing shape and melting; precluding a super critical detonation. What's left is a dirty bomb, not a nuclear detonation.

@kylesenior

7 ай бұрын

That's not the case. See Sandia's "History of the Mk 25 Weapon". It's linked on the W25 page on Wikipedia.

@paladin0654

7 ай бұрын

If your "not the case" comment is aimed at the Genie, I'm not arguing the warhead. I'm referring to the environment. Blast is significantly reduced at high altitude because if thin atmosphere. Prompt radiation, (neutrons) and EMP are king.@@kylesenior

@kylesenior

7 ай бұрын

@@paladin0654 You should reread what you posted and I posted. I am not arguing that the it did not rely on prompt radiation to kill, I am telling you that direct nuclear affects against the nuclear weapons in the bombers werre not the kill mechanism. The threshold for 100% near instant radiation incapacitation of a crew is orders of magnitude lower than the threshold that causes a weapon to fizzle or a pit to melt. Rad kill against warheads only matters in uncrewed weapon systems.

@paladin0654

7 ай бұрын

"The threshold for 100% near instant radiation incapacitation of a crew is orders of magnitude lower than the threshold that causes a weapon to fizzle or a pit to melt."....PRECISELY! The enemy warheads will fizzle!

@kylesenior

6 ай бұрын

@@paladin0654 What you quoted does not support what you said. Crews flying the planes die from prompt radiation long before you reach the threshold needed to fizzle a weapon - if at all, given that small boosted weapons are predetonation proof.

Like to give a tip of the hat, to all of those F-106 Delta Dart, Fighter Interceptor Squadron (48th FIS)

My Dad flew the F-101 with the Genie

Great video! But clearly the "most insane" cold war weapon was the M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System, a tactical nuclear recoilless smoothbore gun: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)

@NathansHVAC

7 ай бұрын

Posiden nuclear torpedo today.

Did the speaker say he fired one of these nukes in combat? or was that during exercise?

😂 they keep saying they didnt own them like that negates responsibility

4:20 What is the aircraft trailing the F-89 doing the live fire of the AIR-2 Genie? Is that a Grumman F-9F Panther?

@buzaldrin8086

7 ай бұрын

B-45 Canberra, twin engine, crew of two. The F9F had swept wings, had only one engine and was carrier-based.

1:38 anyone know what this aircraft/weapon system this is? That's a whole lotta rockets

Thank Lord for advanced guidance systems. It used to be "if you can't get accurate, just irradiate everything in a 10 mile radius" Let's discuss the Titan II 10 megaton warhead.

"Highcard" is the hardest name for a weapon I've ever heard

I like how we’re all “Yankees” to folks in Canada and abroad, but here in the southern US the term is generally reserved as something of a pejorative for people in/around New England (northeast states).

@buzaldrin8086

4 ай бұрын

Funny how the South is still fighting the Civil War.

@Mike-bh7sh

15 күн бұрын

@@buzaldrin8086 Hmmm? I've lived up north and I can assure you there are enough people up there that still have issues as if the war just ended 20 years ago. If we think about it, it is non-southern groups that constantly want oversight of southern states because of 160 years ago. The entire issue is insane, if anyone has had ancestors in this country for 100 years or more, you probably have relations in every group. Example - I'm white, but from my ancestor research it appears one side of my family goes back to slaves - while Levar Burton has ancestors that were white men fighting in the confederate army. With the crazy mindset, I could literally blame Burton for oppressing my ancestors. People need to get over it and worry about how we are treating each other today - not how people dead for nearly 200 years treated people. Instead of worrying about 200 year old slavery - how about worrying about how we are helping modern slavery through commerce with countries like China.

Reminds me of the Nike missile site whos ruins are still visible on top of a mountain near my hometown.

Too cool for only 72k views

This is crazy but I would argue that Project Pluto was the most insane weapon, even though it was never fielded.

now those are some fish... i need 24 for my martian corvette

Respectfully, the Genie was not "crude" or "primitive". It was elegantly free of components which might fail while sitting in storage. It was far easier, especially at the time, to service the dozen expensive radars on the aircraft than to service another dozen (very miniaturized and ruggedized) radars or even radio proximity fuses on every weapon. What small improvement could be gained with a proximity fuse or semi-active guidance would almost certainly be lost in reliability, which is the most important thing when an interceptor only carries a single weapon.

@VictorianMaid99

7 ай бұрын

This is a very efficient weapon.

@mikeb5063

7 ай бұрын

An elegant weapon for a more civilized age

Cool guy .