“The balloon would only be needed if all other failsafes have broken or been destroyed”, the source added. “Testing is to find the weak link in rehearsal – not on the day of the crisis.”
Comment on Key UK Nuclear Deterrent Link Destroyed Over Yorkshire
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 2 days ago
You couldn’t make this stuff up:
The emergency system, called Low Frequency Fall Back or LFFB and codenamed SUNFLOWER, used a “blimp” style tethered balloon or aerostat (illustrated) to lift a 1,500 metre long radio antenna.
So the communications with nuclear-armed submarines is a 1940s-style blimp baloon? Launched in 2003 and tethered to the ground with a wire.
I do have to ask, where are all the £billions on “defense” going? Certainly not on blimp balloons.
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
deHaga@feddit.uk 2 days ago
This is a last resort device. If they’re putting that up, we’ve been nuked and all the bases with Comms are gone
echodot@feddit.uk 15 hours ago
Perhaps they should temporarily replace it with the BBC’s hot air balloon.
Malica@lemmy.zip 18 hours ago
Into the pockets of the global military industrial complex
Gladaed@feddit.org 2 days ago
Building a tower antenna just seems expensive. Why is a blimp that bad?
deltapi@lemmy.world 2 days ago
It’s not. In theory they should be able to quickly deploy a replacement - towers can be easily and quickly destroyed but not quickly replaced. Aerostats can be replaced as quickly as they can inflate replacements & deploy (if needed) new ground equipment.
They can also be deployed from a ship, not as easily done as putting a tower on a ship.
There are a ton of good reasons to use an aerostat instead of a tower.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 2 days ago
Maybe because it’s the second decade of the Twenty-First Century and the tech should be much more advanced than 100 years-old balloons. It doesn’t provide confidence.
Gladaed@feddit.org 2 days ago
It’s the third decade of the twenty first century. To me this tech sounds perfectly sensible. I don’t get the obsession with spending extra to make a product worse.
tenebrisnox@feddit.uk 2 days ago
You are right: third decade! I’m so behind the times. I hear that the army’s going to start using bows and arrows as there’s nothing like saving a bit of cash. All does the same job in the end, I suppose.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 1 day ago
It is British policy to use Trident as a second-strike weapon. Advanced technology would have limited use in such a scenario. That’s why nuclear warfare relies on the simplest fallbacks possible.
BenLeMan@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Oh boy, I read that as “British police use Trident as a second-strike weapon” and thought you better comply when they tase you or else.