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Old 06-30-2015, 05:45 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Default Effects of Nuclear weapons in 20kt, 500kt, & 1.5mt nominal yields.

Any nuclear weapon detonated on a "soft target" (like the ones described above) will ALWAYS be an airburst attack. Ground attack is only used for hardened or underground targets. This is because a ground attack reduces the range of Blast, Thermal, and Fallout damage significantly. The effects of an airburst by effective Nominal Yield are:

Blast Damage Effects By Nominal Yield:
20kt, 400m Airburst: Total devastation from 0 meters to 600 meters. All "soft" (wood or brick) structures are destroyed and moderate damage to reinforced structures from 600 meters to 1700 meters. All "soft" structures moderately damaged and light damage to reinforced structures from 1700 meters to 4700 meters.
500kt, 1800m Airburst: Total devastation from 0 meters to 1.5 kilometers. "Soft" structures are destroyed and reinforced structures suffer moderate damage from 1.5 kilometers to 3.5 kilometers. "Soft" structures suffer moderate damage and reinforced structures suffer light damage from 3.5 kilometers to 10 kilometers.
1.5 mt, 2000 meter Airburst: Total devastation from 0 meters to 4 kilometers. "Soft" structures are destroyed and reinforced structures suffer moderate damage from 4 kilometers to 10 kilometers. "Soft" structures suffer moderate damage and reinforced structures suffer light damage from 10 kilometers to 25 kilometers.

[B]Incendiary Effects by Nominal Yield:[B]
20kt, 400m Airburst: Incineration from 0 meters to 2 kilometers. 3rd degree burns/ignition of all combustibles from 2 kilometers to 2.5 kilometers. 2nd degree burns from 2.5 kilometers to 3.2 kilometers. 1st degree burns from 3.2 kilometers to 4.5 kilometers.
500kt, 1800m Airburst: Incineration from 0 meters to 4 kilometers. 3rd degree burns/ignition of combustibles from 4 kilometers to 6 kilometers. 2nd degree burns from 6 kilometers to 8 kilometers. 1st degree burns from 8 kilometers to 10 kilometers.
1.5mt, 2000m Airburst: Incineration from 0 meters to 15 kilometers. 3rd degree burns/ignition of combustibles from 15 kilometers to 18 kilometers. 2nd degree burns from 18 kilometers to 23 kilometers. 1st degree burns from 23 kilometers to 27 kilometers.

Initial (non-fallout) Radiation Effects by Nominal Yield:
20kt, 400m Airburst: Lethal Radiation Exposure from 0 meters to 1.5 kilometers. Acute Radiation Poisoning from 1.5 kilometers to 2 kilometers.
500kt, 1800m Airburst: Lethal Radiation Exposure from 0 meters to 2 kilometers. Acute Radiation Poisoning from 1.5 kilometers to 2 kilometers.
1.5mt, 2000m Airburst: Lethal Radiation Exposure from 0 meters to 4 kilometers. Acute Radiation Poisoning from 4 kilometers to 5 kilometers.

All of these effects are for Air Burst weapons of the listed Nominal Yield. Ground Bursting will reduce Blast and Incendiary Effects while producing a larger Mushroom Cloud of radioactive fallout debris. Any terrain or structure which could provide cover from a ground burst won't generally provide cover from an air burst (which is why they are more common).
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