# Anyone know about a U.S Airforce Stand Down on 9/14: A missing Missle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081 "2007-09-13T15:18:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081/21 "2007-09-16T16:28:29Z")
[QUOTE=billyb0b] The bombs are carried inside the body of the aircraft. [/QUOTE] The cruise missiles in question were not inside the aircraft, [they were attached to the wings](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20427730/): > [@](#): > > The plane was carrying Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons. > > **The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber’s wings** and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand. Earlier, the Associated Press erroneously reported the bomber was armed with only five warheads. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081/22 "2007-09-17T17:59:54Z")
Warning, some Army speak here but the principle is the same. The Dept of Energy makes a physics package, the warhead, to specifications of the requesting service or services. Size, weight, yields, other factors are included. The service then builds an “adaption kit - Army parlance” to adapt the warhead to the delivery vehicle. It could be an artillery shell, missile, rocket, bomb, etc… The adaption kit contains much of the fuzing/sensors/timing/initiation chains to interface with the warhead. Also, physical attachment points for the warhead and attachments to the delivery vehicle. And the skin section for aerodynamics, sex appeal, whatever. Army speak again; warhead+adaption kit= warhead section. The adaption kit can be installed on the delivery system without the warhead inside or have a conventional (high explosive, etc…) warhead installed and show no physical difference. Multiple systems could use the same physics package, an example would have been the Nike Hercules missile and the Honest John rocket. Same warhead, different employment. As others have said; there is a chain of custody for the warhead. Everyone who was in the chain is in serious career-threatening trouble. You never “lose” a nuke. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081/23 "2007-10-20T17:31:08Z")
[Update](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21382005/): ‘70 punished in accidental nuclear flyover’ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081/24 "2007-10-20T20:21:14Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] How is it that we even know about this? I’m genuinely surprised. [/QUOTE] From the article cited by **Johnny L.A.** : > [@](#): > > [Air Force Secretary Michael W.] Wynne prefaced his remarks about the B-52 incident by saying that, in publicly confirming that nuclear weapons were involved, he had authorized a one-time exception to U.S. policy, which states that the location of nuclear weapons will never be confirmed publicly. He said he made this exception because of the seriousness of the episode and its importance to the nation. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081/25 "2007-10-21T02:03:53Z")
Heh. Here I was thinking "Typical service, they had said they were going to do a stand down over a month ago, now I read that they are just getting around to it NOW? than I read the dates on the post [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-about-a-u-s-airforce-stand-down-on-9-14-a-missing-missle/419081.md?page=1)