Pretty much everything I’ve ever seen that’s been “hardened against a nuclear explosion” on the ground is like 15 feet thick of steel, lead, and concrete. Yet Air Force One is supposed to be able to survive a nuclear blast (I’m guessing not literally right on top of, but nearby and radioactive).
Wouldn’t something thin-skinned like an airplane, by it’s very nature by unable to be shielded from a nuclear blast/radiation?
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People have mention the EMP, and yea this is all Air Force One has, but also nuclear weapons are no where near as powerful as the media has led you to believe. For a weapon in the 200 kiloton range (about ten times Hiroshima) you don’t need anything near 15 feet of steel. 1000m of air + 6 inches of steel backed by a 1/2 layer or radiation shielding will do the job just fine. This is about what both the T64 and M60 tanks had and they were designed and tested against such weapons at ranges of 1000m, and found to provide the crew with adequate protection. Even then it’s the radiation not the explosion that is an issue. A 200 kiloton bomb is only going to produce over pressures in the 5-10 psi range even at a few hundred meters. That’s about 50% stronger than a cat 5 hurricane, so really bad for your house but absolutely 0 issue for a tank.
Ran a back of the napkin calculation with nukemap and a 200kt bomb produces 1psi of overpressure at 10km. A 747 can take 1psi easy. With radiation shielding and EMP shielding this mean that Air Force One could take a 200kt bomb going off 10km (6miles from it)
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