[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by tsofian

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is an interesting and very biased source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet...mic_Scientists The group that publishes it is against all nuclear weapons as well as most other nuclear technology and other emerging technologies as well. The likelihood of them publishing a favorable report on any piece of nuclear hardware is fairly remote. Their goal is to discredit all nuclear weapons programs and the use of propaganda is one way they attempt to sway public opinion

If you like there are also GAO and DoD reports that mention not only the difficulty in finding areas capable of supporting the HML's operations but also the expense of adding roads for them to operate on. Everything in my engineering training and experience, and everything I see about this vehicle combine to tell me that this vehicle was not ever intended to be any more than nominally off-road, and that it would be unable to operate in any but a small fraction of the post-apocalyptic US.

Remember, the challenge for this technology was getting something that would haul around the missile at all. One of the first things sacrificed was "go anywhere" mobility. They didn't need that, this was always intended to operate in the same kinds of places missiles were already based, and those places by and large had lots of flat land and often roads.

Originally Posted by tsofian

Just as a data point the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) has a 515 Hp power plant, eight wheel drive and a total all up weight with the B armor kit of 109.000 pounds. The HML has 1,200 horses and also eight wheel drive and an all up weight of 239,000 pounds or 211 pounds per horse power for the HEMTT and 115 pounds per horse power for the HML. I would say that while towing a ICBM the HML is probably pretty limited but I can't see why the tractor alone would be less mobile than a HEMTT.

Because power is not nearly the only factor in off-road maneuverability. Among many others there is also ground clearance, the HML's biggest problem. Looking at pictures it looks like it has less than 8" of ground clearance, and in a vehicle as long and as wide as this thing even hard, gentle terrain will hit the breakover angle while softer or slightly rougher terrain will just grind it to a halt. Plus, the thing is so danged wide.

Originally Posted by tsofian

Also sealing a vehicle against NBC threats requires a lot of work. The system must not only be sealed but it must also be equipped with an air cleaning and handling system that will ensure that contaminants are filtered out and the air is usually at overpressure to assist in keeping the bad stuff on the outside.

And yet every Morrow vehicle already has NBC systems that meet the exact same standard that you would need for Science One. If the SK-25 can meet the spec, then it is not that hard to achieve.