The Beetle - Nuclear Aircraft Repair and Support Vehicle

[ARS]

 

During the Cold War, tensions are increasing between United States and Soviet Union in terms of nuclear weapon capabilities. In the nuke-happy atomic era, where nuclear power seems to be the "universal solution" that can be put anywhere, from mundane nuclear bombs to mineral water (seriously), it doesn't take too long for someone to get an idea to put nuclear reactor into aircraft. The reason? Having a very long operational life and the capability to continuously provide electrical power, a nuclear reactor gives a nuclear bomber practically infinite operational range (KSP mod said that ) so long as it's reactor is still active with very long interval between refueling. Due to the size and mass of the reactor, only heavy strategic bomber can mount them. Not surprisingly, both sides pursued the idea and created their own nuclear-powered aircraft:

Soviet Tupolev Tu-96LAL...

 and Convair NB-36H

However, unlike nuclear reactors, which is a static installation where maintenance crew can operate safely with the facilities such as decontamination chamber, sealed room and radiation shielding to prevent radiation from leaking through the environment, a nuclear powered aircraft simply cannot afford such luxury due to the limited load capacity, and installing nuclear reactor maintenance facilities on every airbase simply isn't an appealing option. The maintenance crew of nuclear bomber cannot be compared to regular maintenance crew for conventional aircraft. It's like trying to maintain a flying Chernobyl that isn't nailed down to earth and regularly files above enemy territory where there's always a possibility enemy fighters "ventilating" the reactor vessel. The United States then built a specially made purpose-built nuclear aircraft maintenance vehicle, The Beetle

Basically a mecha on treads

Built by Jered Industries in Detroit for General Electric’s (ominously named) Nuclear Materials and Propulsion Operation division using the chassis of M-42 Duster anti-air vehicle, the Beetle was a giant mechanical terror as if it's a machine monster straight out of B-movies. Specifically designed for the Air Force Special Weapons Centre, initially to service and maintain a planned fleet of atomic-powered Air Force bombers, it's the only vehicle of it's class. According to declassified Air Force reports, work began on the “mech” in 1959, and it was completed in 1961. The Beetle’s operation was to repair and maintain engines, until the atomic aircraft project was cancelled in 1961.

Because the Beetle was first conceived to fix aircraft engines that would be soaked in radiation, it had to be nuclear-proof. Because these would be BIG aircraft, with large parts that were high off the ground, the Beetle had to be big as well. And because the actual duties it was to perform would require a great deal of precision and finesse, the Beetle was given two arms with pincers for “hands”, which is where the “Beetle” name originates. All of which explain why the Beetle was a colossal 19 feet long, 12 feet wide, 11 feet high and weighed a ground-shaking 77 tons. The pilot was shielded by an inch of steel armour on the outside of the unit, half-an-inch inside and a minimum of 12 inches of lead plating around the cabin, which would keep him shielded from all but the most intense blasts of radiation. On top of all that, the cockpit glass was 23 inches thick, and was made up of seven individual panes of leaded glass.

To actually drive the Beetle, the pilot couldn’t just pop open a hatch and jump in. The canopy, which weighed 15,000 pounds, had to be raised by hydraulic lifts then lowered onto guidance rods, a process which took several minutes. Once inside, despite cramped conditions, the pilot had some degree of comfort, with a small TV set, air conditioning and even an ashtray, should the stress of dealing with the remains of a nuclear holocaust get a little much from time to time.

The Cockpit

Powered by a 500hp engine, the Beetle could, on a hard, flat surface, reach a top speed of eight miles per hour. Any faster (not that it could go much faster) and the vibrations damaged some of its finer instrumentation and mechanics. That’s painfully slow, yes, but speed had been traded off for power, the robot’s bulk meaning it had 85,000 pounds of pull in its arms, strong enough to either punch through concrete wall or, should the need arise, tear down buildings. Yet despite this raw power, it could also (thanks to its roots as a servicing platform) perform incredibly delicate operations. At a public demonstration in 1962, for example, the Beetle was able to roll up to a carton of eggs, pick a single egg up and hold it in its pincers without breaking it and even putting the egg on a spoon.

            

A gentle giant indeed

In a final and (given the appearance and scale of the Beetle) unexpected twist, the robot was also capable of reaching great heights. The cabin, which housed the cockpit and arms, was able to be raised on four hydraulic pistons, and when fully extended the Beetle stood an imposing 27 feet off the ground, more than high enough to pick through the rubble of a decent-sized apartment building.

However, for all its promise and science fiction appeal, the Beetle just didn’t work very well. At the same 1962 demonstration it managed to pick up an egg (for Popular Science and Life magazines) it also, over the source of four days, “operated seldom”, the Beetle plagued by hydraulic leaks, broken arms, dead generators (the cockpit instrumentation had its own engine) and countless short circuits. Internal testing conducted by the Air Force was even more damning, citing constant mechanical failures and an impossibly high standard of maintenance required to keep the Beetle in good working order. Perhaps its biggest failing, however, was that it was utterly unsuitable for active duty. The Beetle had been designed as a maintenance platform, which would operate from the confines and relative safety of an Air Force base. With the demise of the atomic aircraft program, however, the other potential roles planned for it would have required a more active deployment, something its large size, heavy weight, sluggish speed and most crucially unwieldiness (it took several minutes for a pilot to get in and out, which means it has low readiness capability) simply could not stand up to. Future efforts of this type were thus focused on making military robots smaller, both so that they would be lighter (easier to maintain) and also so that they could be operated remotely, rather than having to provide such extreme protection measures for a single pilot. It’s unknown what ultimately became of the Beetle. Maybe it's rusted somewhere, or maybe it's scrapped. The fate of the vehicle is currently unknown.

More to read here: https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=EiEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60&redir_esc=y&hl=uk#v=onepage&q&f=false

Source: Popular Science Magazine, May 1962 | LIFE Magazine, May 1962 | United States Air Force Technical Documentary Report Number AFSWC-TDR-62-137

Edited December 1, 2018 by ARS

[DDE]

The terminology aboke “leaking” is somewhat misleading, even if proper. Even in the course of normal operation, a practical aviation reactor with a directional shield would be spewing gamma rays and neutrons all around itself, and that would only slowly decrease following operation.

Furthermore, I’ve found a singular mention of the 72-ton Object 805 “protected manipulator” developed in the mid-1950s under the warhead programs Geranium (for R-2) and Generator (for R-5) - before RDS-1 the Soviet Union developed and apparently tested several types of true dirty bombs (along with air-dropped tanks) loaded with various fission fuel production waste products.

Edited December 1, 2018 by DDE

[YNM]

Man, can we have a magazine like that these days ? I'd want one, do they ship around S.E. Asia ? (and not just SG)

_________

 

On topic :

Well, thank lord wireless technology evolved much faster. And soon 'autonomous' ones.

And thank God, most of all, that the nuclear scare largely ended.

[DDE]

14 minutes ago, YNM said:

Well, thank lord wireless technology evolved much faster.

Chernobyl showed that telerobotics are less resistant to radiation than expendable humans and especially human-piloted heavy armour like the off-the-shelf IMR series.

The robots were getting fried constantly, whereas the liquidators at least did not keel over immediately even when recovering fuel rod fragments or measuring the radiation from reactor lava. Ultimately, the most reliable bot there was Klin-1, which was just the usual 50-ton IMR, but optionally manned.

Measurements and sampes from this corium slab were taken in this manner by the guy in the bottom picture continuously since about a month after the explosion.

Edited December 1, 2018 by DDE

[YNM]

20 minutes ago, DDE said:

Chernobyl showed that telerobotics are less resistant to radiation than expendable humans and especially human-piloted heavy armour like the off-the-shelf IMR series.

Yeah, we figured out there's an easier way to deal with them...

(and yeah, thankfully new reactors are made to be much safer and existing ones made safer as well. hence my last sentence.)

Edited December 1, 2018 by YNM

[DDE]

3 minutes ago, YNM said:

Yeah, we figured out there's an easier way to deal with them...

Who do you think built the first shelter after the initial clean-up, while the interior was still capable of causing prompt radiation sickness?

[YNM]

24 minutes ago, DDE said:

Who do you think built the first shelter after the initial clean-up, while the interior was still capable of causing prompt radiation sickness?

People ?

But yeah, I guess the point is that for these things it's much easier avoiding them than dealing with them. And I hope we don't need to deal with more.

[DDE]

13 minutes ago, YNM said:

And I hope we don't need to deal with more.

We’ll have to, all the time. I’ve been hearing a lot about the critical condition of early Western nuclear waste dumps, such as Hanford.

[ARS]

The Klin-1 robot that works during the Chernobyl cleanup operation following the reactor explosion is based from Lunokhod rover (since it's already hardened against space radiation). The design team is literally recalled to get a prototype ready as soon as possible to assist the cleanup process

[YNM]

42 minutes ago, DDE said:

We’ll have to, all the time.

I know, sadly. There are sites.

Though, didn't we already involve more mechanical help ?

[DDE]

49 minutes ago, ARS said:

The Klin-1 robot that works during the Chernobyl cleanup operation following the reactor explosion is based from Lunokhod rover (since it's already hardened against space radiation).

Does that look like a Lunokhod rover to you?

Transmash only built the wheeled chassis for the Lunokhod; the contents of the vehicle were built by Lavochkin and the other usual suspects. That's pretty much the end of connections between Klin-1 and spaceflight; it was operated in a teletank fashion, from a nearby converted BREM-1, and I only have tenuous evidence it even had onboard cameras.

It appears that vehicle hardening was used instead of radiation-hardened electronics (which the Soviet Union NEVER had - see the Fobos fiascos) - the manufacturer lists radiation protection factor of 200-300 for the robot, compared with 80 for the stock IMR, 250-300 for the initial IMR upgrade, 2500 for the final Chernobyl modification of IMR-D, and 8500 for the Klin control vehicle.

49 minutes ago, ARS said:

The design team is literally recalled to get a prototype ready as soon as possible to assist the cleanup process

The design team is entirely unrelated. Furthermore, there's a distance of 20 years between the production of documentation for the Lunokhod, and the Chernobyl accident.

Looks like we have another myth on our hands.

Edited December 1, 2018 by DDE

[ARS]

10 minutes ago, DDE said:

Looks like we have another myth on our hands.

My bad, it's the STR-1, not klin-1  (those -1 designation!)

But it's true that the design team is recalled for building a prototype robotic vehicle for assisting the cleanup operation. According to the entry in wikipedia about Lunokhod program:

"The Lunokhod design returned to limelight 15 years later due to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster on April 26, 1986.The East German-built remote controlled bulldozers available to Soviet civil defense troops weighed dozens of tons – too heavy to operate on the remaining parts of the partially collapsed reactor building roof. Human laborers could not be employed effectively to shovel debris, since work shifts were limited to 90 second intervals due to intense ionizing radiation. Lunokhod designers were called back from retirement, and in two weeks rovers were made which used nuclear decay heat sources for internal rack climate control, their electronic systems were already hardened to partly resist radiation. This benefit allowed the 1986 designers to quickly devise a derived vehicle type for nuclear disaster recovery work. On July 15, two rovers, called STR-1, were delivered to the Chernobyl accident zone and proved useful for clearing debris, earning awards for the designers. Due to extremely high radiation levels, both STR-1 rovers eventually failed, and human workers (later named liquidators) were called in."

Way different than klin-1 indeed

Also, some more reading about the unmanned vehicles that's used during Chernobyl disaster: https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-museum-of-robotic-equipment-used-during-the-chernobyl-512831778

More about STR-1: http://www.rovercompany.ru/News/New_01.html

Edited December 1, 2018 by ARS

[DDE]

1 hour ago, ARS said:

Lunokhod designers were called back from retirement,

This looks like something that came later, something meant for... a redder planet.

The Soviet Union never lost hope for a Marsokhod; I don't see why the Lunokhod team would be retired.

Hell, they were going nuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF2gU3_9WC4&feature=youtu.be&t=203

 

Edited December 1, 2018 by DDE

[XB-70A]

For me, one of the craziest looking tracked vehicle's mod' was the 1991 "Big Wind":

 

 

A crazy improvisation from Hungary, where two Tumansky R-13 turbojets were placed on a T-34-85 in order to extinguish blow the oil wells fires in Kuwait. Once started, water was injected through the exhaust gases, then engines were throttled up. The maximum flow attainable was 30 300 kg/min.

The last time I looked for it, it still was in "service" despite its age. I guess more as a displayable big toy for demonstrations and shows rather than for real interventions.

 

[Nuke]

i like this thread.

[magnemoe]

40 minutes ago, XB-70A said:

For me, one of the craziest looking tracked vehicle's mod' was the 1991 "Big Wind":

 

 

A crazy improvisation from Hungary, where two Tumansky R-13 turbojets were placed on a T-34-85 in order to extinguish blow the oil wells fires in Kuwait. Once started, water was injected through the exhaust gases, then engines were throttled up. The maximum flow attainable was 30 300 kg/min.

The last time I looked for it, it still was in "service" despite its age. I guess more as a displayable big toy for demonstrations and shows rather than for real interventions.

 

It was very successful in Kuwait so don't see why it should not be active. More that its just an niche item who is very good in that it does. Guess they have some just in case they are needed somethere. 

Was unaware you could rent an machine like an miniature excavator to grind up  three stumps until I saw one, useful for that it does, other ways is the backbreaking job of digging and chopping or blasting who can be dangerous and not something you should do yourself. 

[Bill Phil]

The nuclear aircraft program was cancelled since ICBMs and submarines could do the same job, and much better too. But if that wasn’t the case later generations of these robots could’ve improved the design and its capability significantly. It was really just a prototype.

[DDE]

@XB-70A, oh come on! How do you think Russian airstrips are cleaned?

Actual answer: not well! But Siberian oil drillers really want to go home.

Bonus: the most reliable engine on the Kuznetsov!

 

[XB-70A]

4 minutes ago, DDE said:

VK-1 RULES!

 

Good to de-ice too.

[MaverickSawyer]

They use a similar vehicle for chemical warfare decontamination, don't they?

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Thanks for finding that, I'd never even heard of it. I also like the craziness of putting an ashtray in an airtight nuclear reactor service vehicle.

15 hours ago, YNM said:

Man, can we have a magazine like that these days ? I'd want one, do they ship around S.E. Asia ? (and not just SG)

[...]

https://makezine.com/ 

I think they deliver to most countries, but it isn't as good now as old popular mechanics magazines. The older issues (and craft, back when it still existed) were more like this, and last time I checked (a while ago) subscription included access to back issues. They also have most of their projects online for free: https://makezine.com/projects/

[kerbiloid]

18 hours ago, YNM said:

But yeah, I guess the point is that for these things it's much easier avoiding them than dealing with them. And I hope we don't need to deal with more.

How many nuclear plants are built along the tsunami line right on the shore like Fukushima?

19 hours ago, YNM said:

new reactors are made to be much safer

It was enough safe to withstand the human attempts to destabilize it for two days. Then it surrended, humans win.

19 hours ago, DDE said:

Chernobyl showed that telerobotics are less resistant to radiation

Or Soviet electronics of 1970s.

Pneumonics — that would be ideal for a slow bulldozer. Imagine a steampunk monster thinking with its boiler and with jets of steam whistling from its brain.

7 hours ago, MaverickSawyer said:

They use a similar vehicle for chemical warfare decontamination, don't they?

https://www.google.ru/search?q=тепловые+средства+специальной+обработки&newwindow=1&client=opera&hs=Hxh&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX5df3tIDfAhXtqIsKHXSVAYEQ_AUIDigB#imgrc=sFE1Q6eL_AHfmM:

[YNM]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

How many nuclear plants are built along the tsunami line right on the shore like Fukushima?

They're being shut down - Japan has been nuclear-averse again. And elsewhere old nuclear power plants are being decommissioned.

[MaverickSawyer]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

How many nuclear plants are built along the tsunami line right on the shore like Fukushima?

Most nuclear power plants are located next to a large body of water to act as a thermal sink. Some are near oceans, and some are on lakes or rivers. And Re: Fukushima Daiichi... The plant would likely have been fine had the backup generator halls not flooded due to a reluctance from upper management to acknowledge reports from geologists and seismologists that the tsunami threat at the plant's location was significantly worse than originally thought. I.E. management overriding the people who know what they're doing and talking about and causing chaos in the process. Seems to be a distressingly common issue these days. 

Quote

https://www.google.ru/search?q=тепловые+средства+специальной+обработки&newwindow=1&client=opera&hs=Hxh&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX5df3tIDfAhXtqIsKHXSVAYEQ_AUIDigB#imgrc=sFE1Q6eL_AHfmM:

Yep, that's the one. Went back and found the article that first introduced me to this wonderful beast of a machine now that I'm home and in front of my computer:

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24906/russia-uses-these-crazy-antique-jet-engine-equipped-trucks-to-blast-away-chemical-agents

[kerbiloid]

This machine is exactly what I mean as an absolutely must-have thing for a Martian base.

After every dust storm the base will be covered with dust. How to broom it? That's way (a-ha, a-ha) I like it.
A rover with a "rocket engine" on top (as no air for turbojets on Mars), to blow the dust away and to melt the ice.
The engine powers the air scoop and exhausts the jet of carbon dioxide (from both scoop and its nozzle),

Edited December 2, 2018 by kerbiloid