From: Gary Miller (garymiller@starband.net)
Date: Sun Jan 19 2003 - 06:29:00 MST
Michael Butler wrote:
>> "Project Thor" was described by J. Pournelle, among others,
>> quite some time back (20 years ago?). A bolt from the blue.
>> A real cream dream--*if* your target is complacent.
>> ["No Pax Americana is complete without it! Order yours *TODAY*!"]
>>
>> Imagine something shaped rather like a Sidewinder missile, of a
>> size somewhere between that of a crowbar and a telephone pole.
>> Dispatched from orbit, employing purely kinetic kill, time to
>> target measured in minutes.
>>
>> Terminal guidance would be a bit tricky--possibly you'd have to trade
>> off terminal velocity for footprint, or snap out larger control
>> surfaces after reentry--but you ought to have really high kill
>> probabilities going after, say, a vehicle driving on a highway.
>> Armored SUV or schoolbus, take your pick.
>>
>> But of course, Saddam digs tunnels and has several "doubles". Gosh
darn it."
A laser from a satellite is much preferable for several reasons.
Much less time lag for beam hitting the Earth. So stepping out on a
balcony or making a speech is sufficient time to target.
Target cannot be alerted to approach by radar.
Surgical strike prevents bystanders from being killed.
Saddam probably does not have doubles deliver speeches for him but if he
did it could get almost comical. Damn it that's the third double I've
lost this week!
But still I think the real beauty of this is as a psychological deterent
to behaving like a manic!
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