Evening star., 1953-10-11


ply, manpower or firepower.
In q large city, attacked stimuli
taneously with other cities on which
genuine missiles are dropped, the
effects may range from simple dis
rupted activity, confusion, and loss
Of morale and faith in leadership,
to panic and riot, and finally to mass
fight Of the population. One or q
series Of atomic duds, whether COPIED
with or not, could empty city very
quickly and keep it. empty for a
long time. Should the ruse be dis
covered and ignored, or should
fatalistic inSouciance occur, then
the genuine article may be applied
with effective results.
Disposal Troining
One effect Of the atomic dud may
be to force the organization Of
atomic bomb disposal units and the
training of defense workers in bomb
recognition. This fact has certain
advantages as well as disadvantages
to q nation liable to dud attack.
AS mentioned, security could easily
be compromised in a field where
utmost secrecy reignS. Also, the few
specialists employed in the produc-
ton and development Of the weapons
could, particularly in an emergency
Cor an "acute accident"), be diverted
from their essential work to lower
level training or disposal activity.
An atomic bomb disposal unit
would require the highest order of
training, and its personnel would
need to be of very exceptional intel
ligence, stability, courage and good
Judgment. Time would be required
to train high-caliber personnel, and
without such personnel q nation
would be highly vulnerable to dud
warfare. Actually atomic bomb dis
posal units perhaps offer the only
means for effective countermeaSureS
once an atomic dud reaches its
target.
Like other weapons in the new
class of substitute atomic Devices
the atomic dud is aimed at accom-
pliShing warfare goals effectively at
less cost, whether used alone or
combined with other weapons. The
use of substitute weapons permits
stretching" real weapons when
needs elsewhere are more impor-
tant. They allow the use of sitting
duck techniques so that atomic or
other weapons act more efficiently.
Through the use of substitutes, stra-
tegic warfare aims may be achieved
by comparatively non-violent or
physically non-destructive weapons,
especially where target city or its
people should not be destroyed.
They also have possible values for
civil defense training.
BOBBY Trapped Duds
Attention should be given to the
design of genuine atomic missiles to
prevent them from falling into en-
emy hands, if they should turn out
to be duds. One method (Which is
doubtless already in uSe) is design
ing so that such missile is imme-
diately Self-destroying without a
nuclear explosion. A potentially
useful alternative is a design which
cannot be easily disarmed so that
any type of entry or tampering ex-
plodes it. Long-range planning to
cope with genuine dud disposal after
hoStilities have ceased and where
thousands of atomic missiles may
have been involved is another con-
sideration as is the problem of gen.
uine dud disposal that would be
faced if atomic weapons are de-
signed for use as sea mines or tor
pedoeS.
Finally, it is emphasized that this
new phase of atomic warfare is
predicated upon the fact that there
can be genuine atomic dudS. De-
tailed technical information is not
available as to whether all atomic
weapons actually are inherently
capable of becoming duds; hence, it
must be assumed that atomic weap-
ons will yield certain proportion
of dudS.
It must be remembered also that
even if American atomic missiles are
designed in such a manner that
duds are out of the question, there
is no assurance that this is true Of
enemy weapons.