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To: Myrddin
can a Sparrow missile carry a small nuke?

refering to our previous discusion of "the sparrow's in the cage"
4,712 posted on 04/23/2004 10:43:31 PM PDT by rickylc
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placemark.
4,714 posted on 04/23/2004 11:01:06 PM PDT by little jeremiah (...men of intemperate minds can not be free. Their passions forge their fetters.)
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To: rickylc
can a Sparrow missile carry a small nuke?

It is designed to do damage to an aircraft in flight. The missile locks onto the target and a proximity fuse detonates the annular warhead when it reaches within the 27 foot kill radius. It is not a very powerful weapon. It's just too fast for an aircraft to evade.

The preferred missile type would be an air to ground or ground to ground type. The Iraqis modified a Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missile last year. It was fired over the Iraq/Kuwait desert and dropped very near our troops. That missile would be a more suitable candidate. The one serious problem is that it is damn fast and not really maneuverable. A cruise missile that could fly a GPS route would be necessary to achieve what was intimated in the post from Jill.

4,717 posted on 04/23/2004 11:17:40 PM PDT by Myrddin
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