SpudFiles

http://www.theage.com.au/world/america- ... 1nofy.html

As long as someone can work out how to prevent an invalid ICBM launch detection it would seem to be quite a toy. I presume a warhead in the 500lb range given what the Minuteman III can carry ?

500lb delivered with CEP of maybe 50m after 5000km flight would be like having a virtual carrier battle group anywhere in the world at all times. Not a good look if you are DPRK or Iran.

Travelling that fast, does it need a warhead?

The Navy's railgun developments are planned to use kinetic energy along.

In order to kill area targets, it could have a warhead of separate projectiles that would be the equivalent of a modern day shrapnel shell, maybe using something similar to these babies from theCBU-107... or zoom up and launch 5 x 100lb "tactical" rods from god

rods from god

The idea of dispatching your enemy by hitting him with a tungsten telephone pole moving at 3000 m/sec lacks the whole "kabooom" bit that you need to get airtime on Al Jazeera

The idea of dispatching your enemy by hitting him with a tungsten telephone pole moving at 3000 m/sec lacks the whole "kabooom" bit

Except for the part where the rod is actually moving at ~8000 m/s, has ~40 times the volumetric energy density of the best current high explosives, and releases a good chunk of that energy on impact...

Also "five times the speed of sound", while likely not an accurate figure, is vastly slower than what one would expect from something in the general ICBM format. This is probably more along the lines of a scramjet cruise missile.

and releases a good chunk of that energy on impact...

Fair point

evilvet wrote:As long as someone can work out how to prevent an invalid ICBM launch detection it would seem to be quite a toy.

Which - when you get right down to it - is the only purpose for a toy like this. ICBMs can do the same job better, faster, and cheaper. But ICBM launches make some folks very nervous....

...So we're stuck with the question: How do you reach out and touch somebody WITHOUT somebody mistaking it for a nuke launch?

Answer: Develop a very different weapon (ie, won't be mistaken for an ICBM) and keep nuclear warheads as far from that new weapon as possible. That way, when OtherPeople see the launch they'll know both by the launch location and the trajectory that it is NOT a nuclear weapon. Note that for this approach to work, you'll probably have to allow the OtherPeople to inspect the new weapons in their silos (or however they're stored/launched).

@DYI

You know how to work the numbers on this sort of thing, are we talking kiloton ranges ?

But ICBM launches make some folks very nervous....

even tomahawk missiles can have nuclear warheads

so while I get the idea and all I don't think this is going to work the way you explained

besides I suspect that as soon this is ready the chinease will show their own version - 5 times cheaper, better and in greater numbers
[/making fun of f22]

POLAND_SPUD wrote:even tomahawk missiles can have nuclear warheads

Sure, but it's never going to be mistaken for an ICBM launch which means the opposition has a lot more time to think about it. Also, it's comparatively short range means that you're not likely to be overflying...say...Russia on your way to Iran.

so while I get the idea and all I don't think this is going to work the way you explained

You are aware that for the past 15+ years Russians have been allowed to inspect our ICBMs, SLBMs, and nuclear-capable bombers, right? There absolutely is precedent for such arrangements.

POLAND_SPUD wrote:besides I suspect that as soon this is ready the chinease will show their own version - 5 times cheaper, better and in greater numbers [/making fun of f22]

If you mean the Chengdu J-20 it doesn't seem that impressive at this point.

This seems like a more viable competitor.

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:This seems like a more viable competitor.

Damn, they're cheap too!

MrCrowley wrote:Damn, they're cheap too!

You can get three for the cost of one F-22

You are aware that for the past 15+ years Russians have been allowed to inspect our ICBMs, SLBMs, and nuclear-capable bombers, right? There absolutely is precedent for such arrangements.

but not the chinease

If you mean the Chengdu J-20 it doesn't seem that impressive at this point

PAK_FA would be my choice too as the russians have more experience...

though on the other hand the chinease have proven to be very resourceful (and secretive so I am not sure if j-20 is just a technology demostrator as some ppl claim or not)

POLAND_SPUD wrote:though on the other hand the chinease have proven to be very resourceful (and secretive so I am not sure if j-20 is just a technology demostrator as some ppl claim or not)

It doesn't make sense to be 100% secretive with this sort of technology.

Unless you're planning to launch a global sneak attack - very unlikely - you want your rivals to maybe not know exactly how your technology works, but to know that you have it, available for use.

It doesn't make sense to be 100% secretive with this sort of technology.

well not if you're planning to offer them for export but if you're developing technology there is no need to post youtube vids of tests you know...

Sure, today we can watch documentaries on sr71 on Discovery... but it wasn't the same back when it was being developed