AFF/ASTEROIDS, VOLUMETRIC WEAPONS AND NEUTRON BOMBS

ASTEROIDS CAN BE WMD

David Derbyshire THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) April 12, 2001, SECTION: Pg. 06 HEADLINE: It's 2023 and Telford's days are numbered Scientists aim to show how an asteroid could be turned into a weapon of mass destruction//VT2002acsln

A TEAM of British space scientists has devised a plan to nudge an asteroid out of its solar orbit and send it hurtling into the centre of Telford.

The impact on the Midlands new town would trigger an explosion the equivalent of 15 hydrogen bombs, wiping Telford - birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and which now boasts "one of Shropshire's larger shopping centres" - off the map.

Most of the Midlands and part of the North, including Birmingham and Manchester, would go, too.

The plot may sound like something dreamt up by an under-ambitious James Bond villain but the researchers say their study is a serious attempt to show how asteroids could be turned into weapons of mass destruction.

RUSSIANS HAVE PLANNED TO USE ASTEROIDS AS WMD

The Russians have talked about deflecting asteroids, while America is considering investing more in "planetary defence". "The point of this is to show how it could be done secretly," said Dr Holloway. "But the more asteroids we know about, they harder it would be for a country to find one and use it as a weapon."

VOLUMETRIC WEAPONS ARE A NEW WMD THREAT

ROBERT WALL February 12, 2001 Aviation Week & Space Technology SECTION: WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS; Vol. 154, No. 7; Pg. 30 HEADLINE: CIA Details Proliferation Concerns, Other Threats //VT2002acsln

-- Wilson says it is increasingly likely that in the next 15 years the U.S. will confront an attack with volumetric weapons. Those weapons don't use traditional explosives, but instead create clouds of fuel-rich materials that detonate slowly and can cause massive amounts of harm to personnel and infrastructure. The use could come in a conflict or terrorist scenario, he said.

PLANS FOR NEUTRON WEAPONS HAVE BEEN CYBERJACKED FROM THE USA

JK DUTT, retired Lieutenant-Colonel, Indian Army, March 28, 2001 THE STATESMAN (INDIA) HEADLINE: Imponderables of a nuclear race //VT2002acsln

A new generation of nuclear weapons, more "acceptable" to mankind, has been produced where the warhead is so composed as to give rise to minimal collateral damage. This class of weapons is called the neutron bomb and has been designed to engage purely military targets such as tank concentration, artillery gun position, infantry deployment and so on. The latest American formula in respect of this weapon system, the W88, is alleged to have been cyberjacked.