lethality compared

[tround]

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a278728.pdf

 

[Madurai]

I have a problem with the "based on a uniform target density of one per square meter" assumption.

 

[Jemiba]

Me, too, at least with regards to the nuclear weapons. For the 20 KT bomb it
would mean a circle of death of around 8,000 m and for the 1 MT device even
nearly 30,000 m. Seems a little bit too much, I think.

 

[tround]

I find also the V2 a little too powerful .
But it's especially interesting for the comparison of hand to hand and rifle and machines gun (I think of the Imperial Japanese Army ) . At the third battle of ypres , there were 10 men per meter of front .

 

[Abraham Gubler]

I have a problem with the "based on a uniform target density of one per square meter" assumption.

It’s not meant to be a realistic appreciation of the battlefield but rather a constant measure that enables potential lethality to be indexed. The TLI isn’t a measure to be used to predict the lethal outcome of using a particular weapon on a battlefield but to measure the difference in potential lethality of various weapons. Sure you are not going to find a situation in which there is a one cubic kilometre blob of one billion compressed humans to engage with a nuclear weapon. But the concept of such enables a realistic appraisal of the lethality difference between a long bow and a nuclear weapon.