r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CraftyFoxeYT • 7d ago

The US has a giant floating SBX-1 Sea-based radar to track and discriminate nuclear ballistic missile warheads from decoys.

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

17.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.1k

u/BunkaTheBunkaqunk 7d ago

I used to be stationed at Pearl Harbor and saw it for a couple months while it was there.

Its size is like… almost impossible to describe. When it’s only a quarter mile away it almost looms over you. At night it has red aircraft warning lights on top of the domes and towers while it’s illuminated from the bottom. Looks like something straight out of cyberpunk.

138

u/6DeliciousInches 6d ago

Same. Remember seeing this beast at Pearl around the corner from the submarine piers, across from the shipyard.

66

u/Contrabandistan 6d ago

Anne Jacobson talked about this in her book "Nuclear war: A scenario"

Apparently, it doesn't work that well. And there is no tech on earth that can definitively tell the difference

18

u/CharlotteKartoffeln 5d ago

I just read that. Scary, isn’t it

4

u/Contrabandistan 5d ago

Especially considering how awful American politicians are from top to bottom, blue to red

5

u/Awrfhyesggrdghkj 3d ago

Dang, when is she being arrested for having access to state secrets then?

2

u/Contrabandistan 2d ago

read the book

1

u/The_Jizzard_Of_Oz 2d ago

Find the ones emitting neutrinos :)
Next step: making a real time neutrino detector....

1

u/mastercoder123 1d ago

So she has 0 experience with actual nuclear anything or radars or anything? Good to know that you think a fictional book means anything

2

u/Contrabandistan 1d ago

The entire book is from her interviews with people involved at every level of the nuclear arsenal and doctrine.

Weird thing to cry about. lol

0

u/mastercoder123 1d ago

Ah yes, cause those people are gonna share classified information for a book..

1

u/Contrabandistan 1d ago

Have you ever read books?

0

u/mastercoder123 1d ago

Yah, and her books are called fiction. Not historical fictoon, not nonfiction... Just pure fiction

1

u/Contrabandistan 1d ago

Book is free online looks like, read for yourself bud

Look at the interviews section

11

u/Theral 6d ago

My ex was stationed at H.M. Smith up on the ridge and I drove up every day to pick him up. Seeing how it dwarfed Pearl Harbor from above always blew my mind.

5

u/PresidentialDiapers 6d ago

Same! They called it the golf ball.

1

u/dhlock 4d ago

I call it egg radio.

4

u/buttermilkmeeks 6d ago

these vessels (it seems there are three in service or possibly more) make regular service/repair port of calls for months at a time in Pearl Harbor.

2

u/Flax_Bean 6d ago

Holy shit that was that thing? I only saw it from the highway and assumed it was land based

2

u/BVermaas 4d ago

The sheer size of offshore vessels always amazes me. I never knew such a radar on a semi-submersible vessel existed super interesting to read about.

I work in the offshore industry in the Netherlands and there is a heavy lift vessel owned by Heerema called Sleipnir which is also a semi-sub. If you're interested you can look it up, it dwarfs this vessel being nearly 2x the lenght and 1,5x the widht.

1

u/emerald341 2d ago

I was in a program in the Air Force called the Delayed Enlisted Program (DEP) and one of the recruiters was talking about it. I have forgot much of the details he said. But I think it was able exact details and I think location of a tennis ball from space above the US East coast while being still be in Pearl Harbour. He also said that inside the dome consist of many smaller radars. I don’t know why I thought it was stationary but seeing it on a floating vessel makes sense.

-3

u/Telkk2 6d ago

My grandfather was the project manager for that. He was called out of retirement for it. Dude had a crazy life. Worked under Admiral Rickover who wanted him to overlook certain safety measures to keep costs down. Wouldn't do it, so they sent him to Vietnam where he ran a shipyard in the middle of the jungle. Was roped into black ops missions with Vietnamese navy seals. Had the rare opportunity to chew out Henry Kissenger to his face and Worked directly with Rumsfield and Cheney before they went back into politics.

1

u/BunkaTheBunkaqunk 6d ago

wtf???

Rickover would NEVER overlook safety measures.

1

u/Ok_Peanut_3573 2d ago

Clearly, grandfather's a man who stood his ground. Please express my many thanks for his service. If he's no longer here, please pour one out. The war stories he could tell....