Broken Arrow?

army judge

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Russia's Black Sea flagship which sank yesterday after an explosion on board may have been carrying nuclear warheads, analysts and experts have warned today, as a Russian politician said more than 400 sailors could have gone down with the ship.

The Moskva, a Soviet-era guided missile cruiser, sank near the port of Sevastopol on Thursday after Ukraine said it hit the ship with two cruise missiles. Today, Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.

If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident - American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads - two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations - Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria - to insist on an explanation. 'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.

Meanwhile Ilya Ponomarev, a politician exiled from Russia for opposing Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, said just 58 of the 510-strong crew have since been accounted for - raising the prospect that 452 men went down with the ship in what would be a bitter loss for Vladimir Putin's already beleaguered army.

Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, has been confirmed to have sunk near port of Sevastopol

Experts and analysts are now warning that the warship may have been carrying two nuclear warheads

They are calling for an urgent probe into 'broken arrow' incident - military slang for an accident with nukes

Meanwhile questions remain over the fate of Moskva's 510-strong crew, most of whom are unaccounted for

Ilya Ponomarev, a politician exiled from Russia, said as many as 452 members of the crew could have died


Rumors have also began circulating in Ukrainian media that Admiral Igor Osipov - the commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet which the Moskva led - has been arrested in what would be the latest in a string of detentions linked to the bungled invasion.


Ukraine war: Fears Moskva warship was carrying nuclear weapons when it sank | Daily Mail Online
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If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident - American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

Interesting choice of terms. I wonder what the background is for how that phrase came about. Off the top of my head I can't think of an obvious connection between broken arrows and accidents where nuclear weapons are present other than, of course, both may involve broken weapons.

As the pride of the Black Sea fleet, the loss of the Moskva (Moscow in English) particularly stings for the Russian navy. It also highlights the vulnerability of surface ships to such weapons, something every navy should be looking at.
 
Interesting choice of terms. I wonder what the background is for how that phrase came about. Off the top of my head I can't think of an obvious connection between broken arrows and accidents where nuclear weapons are present other than, of course, both may involve broken weapons.

""Broken Arrow" is a term used by the US military to refer to an accident that involves nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons components, but does not create the risk of nuclear war."

Since 1950 there have been 32 such accidents.

Broken Arrows: Nuclear Weapons Accidents | atomicarchive.com
 
Interesting choice of terms. I wonder what the background is for how that phrase came about. Off the top of my head I can't think of an obvious connection between broken arrows and accidents where nuclear weapons are present other than, of course, both may involve broken weapons.

Your powers of reasoning and deducing are working well.

I find these discussions fascinating, because the public knows so little, while a few people know it all.

Those few prove that multiple people can keep secrets.


Here are a couple lengthier explantions:

Broken Arrow Accidents

"Atomic Heritage Foundation" and that "Broken Arrow Accidents" article

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilear...hat_the_us_military_term_broken_arrow_refers/

"Broken Arrow": Nuclear Accidents • KKFI
 
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