How many bombs dropped simultaneously would it take to blow up america from coast to coast? How long would it take to annihilate?

So now you have a death wish?

Who needs bombs?  We’re doing a fine job of destroying it (coast to coast) all by ourselves.  What with an inept government and asinine citizens.  

What will history record as the reason the “great USA” fell?  Was it a failed war?  Was it nuclear bombs?   Was it invaded by a foreign country?  Was it terrorists?  No.  It brought itself down.   Self-serving leaders and self-serving citizens.  It’d been brewing for years, but all it took a little virus to being it to a full head. 

Strange question there, Rosie.

I can't help thinking you are being rhetorical, based on thinking along the lines Shuhak suggests.

The the destructive power of a 1 megaton nuclear warhead will take out an area of about 100 sq miles, it would take 35,000 warheads to annihilate the US. That is more than 3 times the existing world arsenal.

I don't know how many it would take to blow up America from coast to coast but a few warheads that were targeted to destroy things like used nucular rod coolent ponds would wipe out America. There are coolent ponds all acrose the US and if the used nucular energy rods in those ponds are not kept cool they will go critical and release massive amounts of radiation. Cheers!

I don't think the real future threat will be all-out nuclear war but the Internet, by the enemy whoever that may be crippling the nation's governmental and public networks hence its ability to function.

Slartibartfast refers to two very different types of weapon.

The conventional nuclear bomb uses fission -  breaking the atoms of plutonium or the appropriate isotope of uranium releases huge amounts of energy, mainly heat and light. It's achieved by using shaped chemical explosive charges to compress separated pieces of the metal together into an immediately unstable mass.

The "Hydrogen Bomb" uses fusion, ramming the atoms of deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) fiercely enough together that they fuse so to form helium, yielding a far higher heat and light output than a fission-bomb. The heat and pressure necessary to start the reaction is given by placing the deuterium within a small fission-explosion.

Nuclear fusion is the way in which stars work, but they are moderated and kept stable by their vast gravitational forces.

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You ask if there are ships patrolling armed with nuclear-warhead missiles. Not surface ships but submarines, so they are hidden as far as possible from detection by the enemy. Obviously though, their numbers and locations are secret!


I will expose one myth. Hollywood, campaigners and others have created a common idea that the worlds' navies go around the globe, deafening all the sea-animals with constant streams of sonar "pings". Except perhaps for occasional tests or if necessary in war, THEY DO NOT! The moment a ship or submarine releases a few pings, it reveals itself to any listening vessel for miles around, including its own prey. Instead, submarines especially creep around very gently, making as little noise as possible, listening carefully for any signs of their enemies while not revealing their own presence. Their crews pride themselves on being "The Silent Service".