Rods From God

NY Times ^ | 12/10/2010 | Johnathan Shainin

[wastedyears]

Mentioned in Tom Clancy’s EndWar.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I love these weapons

[M Kehoe]

Good evening. For a newbie, you have been posting some good stuff. Thanks.

5.56mm

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I am far from being a newbie and have not been reading my 1500 plus posts. I am coming up on my one year anniversary.

[GeronL]

I saw that trailer for END WAR where they used this.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

A Kinetic Penetrator from a high-speed camera taken seconds before impact.

[UCANSEE2]

Jarts.

without fins.

[M Kehoe]

I am coming up on my one year anniversary.

Congratulations. Keep up the good work.

5.56mm

[piytar]

LOL, was going to admonish the poster that you don’t qual as a newb. Then saw who it was - M Kehoe aka 5.56mm - and hesitated. He’s OLD SCHOOL. To him, *I’M* a newb.

Still, well said. Good post. And I’m pretty sure 5.56mm meant that as a compliment. (Please don’t Viking Kitty me if I’m wrong, M Kehoe.)

[M Kehoe]

8^)

5.56mm

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Well, I thank him for the compliment

:)

[1955Ford]

this article is 4 yrs old. Post should be deleted

[gigster]

What is the guidance system?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

How the weapon works is they electromagnetically accelerate a 5,000 kg perditrium-ferrum rod (uranium-iron) so that its trajectory puts it on course to its target. Stationed at approximately 410 km altitude, their projectiles typically reach velocities of 2.8 km/s. This gives each shot 20 GJ of kinetic energy, equivalent to 4 tons of nitrogenous explosive. Since all of this energy is in the direction of impact, the destructive capabilities of each shot is impressive. The other major advantage of this weapon system is its flexibility. Although each shot is able to destroy any armored vehicle as it is designed for, it also contains sufficient force to sink all but the largest sea-vessels and to penetrate through most kinds of armored bunkers. conceivable to use on tight infantry formations as well.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

It seems that other people publish older articles and posters seem interested in this weapon.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I sense a tinge of jealousy.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The most described system is ‘an orbiting tungsten telephone pole with small fins and a computer in the back for guidance.’ The weapon can be down-scaled, an orbiting “crowbar” rather than a poleThe time between deorbiting and impact would only be a few minutes, and depending on the orbits and positions in the orbits, the system would have a world-wide range There is no requirement to deploy missiles, aircraft or other vehicles. Although the SALT II (1979) prohibited the deployment of orbital weapons of mass destruction, it did not prohibit the deployment of conventional weapons

[Bullish]

Published 12-10-2006 ??

[Yossarian]

While interesting, you really should make note of the age of the article both in the title and in your first comment. That would be just good FReeper form.

And that M Kehoe? What a newb....