US to deploy hyper-missiles

The Observer (U.K.) ^ | 11/14/04 | Robin McKie and David Smith

[Pokey78]

Anywhere on Earth could be targeted 'within two hours'

American scientists are developing hypersonic cruise missiles that will fly 10 times faster than current rockets, penetrate concrete armouring and could be launched from any site in the world.

The missiles would have a range of 9,000 miles, more than a third of Earth's circumference and be able to reach their targets within two hours. First prototypes are expected to be tested next year, though the missile is not expected to be deployed until the end of the decade.

'If someone is messing with us - or Britain - from far away, we could whack them straight away,' said Preston Carter, an aerospace engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California.

The new missiles will exploit supersonic combustion ramjet - or scramjet - technology. Nasa engineers will tomorrow attempt to fly a robot X-43A scramjet over the Pacific at speeds around 7,200 mph, 10 times the speed of sound.

The flight will be crucial in demonstrating the feasibility of hypersonic travel. Most media attention has focused on its commercial exploitation for jets that could travel from London to Sydney in two hours. The prime aim is to create hypersonic rockets that would replace current cruise missiles.

'The new missiles could strike pretty much anywhere within a couple of hours,' said Graham Warwick, Americas editor of Flight International . 'Current cruise missile have to be carried on a B52 bomber. That involves planning and takes at least 24 hours. The military want a quick solution, so if they knew bin Laden was sipping coffee at a cafe they could get a bomb on target in two hours.'

Scramjets work on the same principle as all jets, by igniting fuel in compressed air and using the expanding gases to propel the aircraft. Standard turbojets use fans to compress the air: scramjets use a plane's forward motion alone to bring air into the combustion chamber and require an initial boost from a rocket.

The entire aircraft then becomes an enormous scoop that receives air which is compressed and injected - and ignited - with a chemical called silane before hydrogen fuel is added. The feat compares to 'lighting a match in a hurricane', says Nasa.

'We'll see a military application initially as a "bunker buster" that would hit its target and bore into the ground before exploding,' said Carter.'

'We are talking about the ability to strike more cost-effectively. If the US has to deploy troops to the other side of the world, it is expensive. This may keep enemies in check and act as a deterrent.'

[KarlInOhio]

The missiles would have a range of 9,000 miles, more than a third of Earth's circumference

Wow! I went to http://www.wm7d.net/az_proj/az_html/azproj_form_long.shtml which prints eqidistant maps centered on a given location. 9000 miles from Anchorage covers everywhere in the world except for Antartica and the southern quarter of Africa.

[TChris]

I'd like to see it fly against the Navy's Phalanx system

That would be a fun competition!

[Ronzo]

WHOOSH! KA-BOOM! OBL vanishes in a puff of cafe au lait, biscotti, and a copy of the Sunday NY Times.

LOL!

Shoot, it be worth launching the missile just to terminate the Sunday NY Times...

[CaptRon]

The only thing 'hyper' about this story is the headline. They are quite a few years away.

[doc11355]

I took your suggestion and entered the likely dimensions of a 1 ton warhead travelling at 7,200 mph. It burned up in the atmosphere, according to the calculator, before striking anything.

Looks like this only pertains to large, celestial objects, not missles.

[Repub Bub]

PING!

[King Prout]

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

thanks for that - I have wanted to have such a calculator for a while now.

[cripplecreek]

I didn't bother to check it out myself I just happened to think about the impact calculator at the time. (thats pretty cool in itself)

[cripplecreek]

Yeah theres something disturbingly fun about calculating death and destruction. Now I need to find a nuclear blast effect calculator.

[diss-a-lib]

Isn't that the tecnology that leaves a "knot on a rope" trail in the sky? I have heard of this for several years now.

[diss-a-lib]

President Carter would only warn his friends, The Jihadist madmen.

[diss-a-lib]

Thank God for "black budgets", Amen

[diss-a-lib]

PS. and I don't mean 200 dollar hammers, and 300 dollar toilet seats, lets hope who is sitting in the WH has the Pair to use them, if need be.

[King Prout]

I love getting this result: "you are within the fireball"

[Colorado Doug]

From that picture, with the squiggly contrails, it looks like something Wiley E. Coyote might have built.

[mad_as_he$$]

No contest. Missile wins. It is WAAAAYYYYYY faster than Phalanx update rate.

[RebelTex]

Here's the results (impact only, assuming no explosive device, with interesting stuff in red) from a calculation using hypothetical inputs:

Your Inputs:

Distance from Impact: 0.40 km = 0.25 miles

Projectile Diameter: 6.10 m = 19.99 ft = 0.00 miles

Projectile Density: 12000 kg/m³

Impact Velocity: 4.02 km/s = 2.50 miles/s

Impact Angle: 75 degrees

Target Density: 2500 kg/m³

Target Type: Sedimentary Rock

Energy:

Energy before atmospheric entry: 1.15 x 10¹³ Joules = 0.28 x 10^-2 MegaTons TNT

The average interval between impacts of this size somewhere on Earth is 1.2 years

Atmospheric Entry:

The projectile lands intact, with a velocity 2.87 km/s = 1.78 miles/s.

The energy lost in the atmosphere is 5.68 x 10¹² Joules = 0.14 x 10^-2 MegaTons.

Major Global Changes:

The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.

The impact does not make a noticeable change in the Earth's rotation period or the tilt of its axis.

The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.

Crater Dimensions:

What does this mean?

Transient Crater Diameter: 159 m = 523 ft

Transient Crater Depth: 56.4 m = 185 ft

Final Crater Diameter: 199 m = 654 ft

Final Crater Depth: 42.5 m = 139 ft

The crater formed is a simple crater

The floor of the crater is underlain by a lens of broken rock debris (breccia) with a maximum thickness of 19.7 m = 64.6 ft.

At this impact velocity ( < 12 km/s), little shock melting of the target occurs.

Thermal Radiation:

What does this mean?

At this impact velocity ( < 15 km/s), little vaporization occurs; no fireball is created, therefore, there is no thermal radiation damage.

Seismic Effects:

What does this mean?


The major seismic shaking will arrive almost instantly.

Richter Scale Magnitude: 2.7

Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 0.4025 km:

I. Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions.

II. Felt only by a few persons at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings.

   

Ejecta:

What does this mean?




Most ejecta is blocked by Earth's atmosphere




Air Blast:

What does this mean?


The air blast will arrive at approximately 1.22 seconds.

Peak Overpressure: 49300 Pa = 0.493 bars = 7 psi

Max wind velocity: 97.4 m/s = 218 mph

Sound Intensity: 94 dB (May cause ear pain)

Damage Description:



Multistory wall-bearing buildings will collapse.

Wood frame buildings will almost completely collapse.

Glass windows will shatter.

Up to 90 percent of trees blown down; remainder stripped of branches and leaves.




Tell me more...

Click here for a pdf document that details the observations, assumptions, and equations upon which this program is based. It describes our approach to quantifying the important impact processes that might affect the people, buildings, and landscape in the vicinity of an impact event and discusses the uncertainty in our predictions. The processes included are: atmospheric entry, impact crater formation, fireball expansion and thermal radiation, ejecta deposition, seismic shaking, and the propagation of the atmospheric blast wave.




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Earth Impact Effects Program Copyright 2004, Robert Marcus, H.J. Melosh, and G.S. Collins
These results come with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY

[Born to Conserve]

The phalanx would not be effective against hypersonic missles.

A laser would be . . .

[NicknamedBob]

"I have wanted to have such a calculator for a while now. "

Checking on my math? Just remember, ice doesn't burn.

I saw a really depressing photo in the newspaper -- Indian farmers praying for rain.

How I would love to throw them a snowball.

[VOA]

I almost fainted, I thought it said President Carter...

Understandable...
at the same time, it's my inexpert understanding that the "smart bombs" got their
start thanks to SecDef Brown during the Carter Admin.

That's why I REALLY held my breath and prayed at the outset of Gulf War I.
I figured anything that got it's start under Carter was bound to "bomb" (fail)
during a real shooting war.

Thank G-d I was wrong.