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US defence shield may use nuclear missiles in outer space

Scruff · 2002-04-12 09:30:03

A rather ominous development in the U.S. missile defence shield: (taken from Irish Independent ) While there is no doubt that a nuclear interceptor would be more effecitve at knocking out an incoming enemy missile i wouldn't like the idea of a nuclear detonation goind off above my head and then not only having any…

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#32 16-04-2002 4:38pm

Scruff

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Nice comprehensive reply there jc on the lasers, i'm impressed (and it saved me having to write it, very busy today :rolleyes: ).

2) Atmospheric Attenuation (I think) : As you heat the atmosphere passing through it, the beam actually gets distorted, making pinpoint targetting problematic at the range needed for low-orbit incomings. The more power you use, the worse this problem is. Taken with point 1, this is currently an unsurmounted problem.

To counter the Atmospheric Attenuation they developing the same adaptive mirror technique that is used in the most modern telescopes that can provide images as clear as from Hubble.

The tech I think you're talking about was for supersonic short- and medium-range missiles, and its being developed as a truck-portable system in conjunction with Israel (!).

Haven't heard of that one but they are also looking into creating an airborne laser interception system that will intercept missiles before they reach orbit. The plan involves converting the cabin of a boeing 747 in to a laser generator with the control crew where 1st class should be. Aiming would be done with an opitical turret on the nose of the plane, like on the Apache attach chopper.

Again loads of technical and practical problems with that, even if it does sound cool

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