Posted on 11/05/2018 12:17:49 PM PST by ETL
A U.S.-Japanese interceptor successfully shot down a test ballistic missile over Hawaii. It was the second-ever success for the joint missile defense program, and a stunning technological accomplishment. Also, the whole thing was captured on video.
The interceptor, called the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA, destroys targets with sheer force, rather than an explosive warhead, and according to its manufacturer Raytheon, the interceptor's "kill vehicle" (a projectile) rams into a ballistic missile with the force of a 10-ton truck traveling 600 mph (965 km/h).
But does any of this make the U.S. (or Japan) any safer? Are American cities less likely to be struck by nuclear missiles now?
That's a much tougher question to answer.
This second-ever success for the SM-3 missile interceptor follows two public (and embarrassing) failures for the program, during which the interceptors failed to hit their targets. As Defense News reported, the first test in February 2017 was successful, but a second test in June 2017 failed after a sailor "accidentally triggered the missiles self-destruct feature." A third test, in January, failed to hit the target.
As Jefferey Lewis, a nuclear expert and Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, has noted several times on his podcast, this track record isn't particularly inspiring for a program tasked with protecting cities from nuclear fireballs.
The task of hitting a nuclear missile that's shooting through space with an interceptor is incredibly difficult. The missile itself moves at blistering speeds and is relatively tiny in the vastness of space. The SM-3 must move even faster, and travel at a near-perfect trajectory, to smash into its target. It's often compared to shooting a bullet with a bullet. The interceptor, theoretically capable of being launched from sea or land, uses radar data transmitted to it from land to home in on its target.
Lewis has noted previously that even the low success rate of defense systems like the SM-3 makes them look more capable than they may really be. In the real world, a nuclear attack probably wouldn't involve just one missile. It probably wouldn't occur in the ideal weather conditions during which these tests are scheduled. And it might come from an unexpected location or travel along an unexpected trajectory. It's unclear how an interceptor that has a 50-percent or so success rate during tests would perform in that sort of real-world scenario.
Folks involved with the SM-3 program have a more optimistic take on the tests. Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves told reporters in March that even failures represent learning opportunities for the program, and that it will ultimately make the U.S. safer. The goal is to eventually station SM-3s in Poland, Romania and Japan. A May 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office put the interceptor's price tag at $39 million.
Meanwhile, as Live Science has reported previously, some experts believe that efforts to expand U.S. missile defenses have triggered Russian investment into bizarre new forms of nuclear weapons designed to avoid such defenses.
Originally published on Live Science.
A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.
The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:
Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.
First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]
Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.
I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.
I will not weaponize space.
I will slow our development of future combat systems.
And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.
Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.
You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.
Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090412030633/http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp
"MissileThreat.com is a project of The Claremont Institute devoted to understanding and promoting the requirements for the strategic defense of the United States."
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I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.
I will not weaponize space.
I will slow our development of future combat systems.
This is all great and a testament to Reagan’s SDI vision, which the left derided as Star Wars nonsense. However, I am concerned that hypersonic missiles, already on the design table, may render this system technologically and economically prohibitive.
with the force of a 10-ton truck
Or hillary falling.
Who wouldve predicted this 70 years ago.
That’s another reason I’m a proponent of exo-atmospheric proximity-engagement weapons in the 1 - 2 megaton range.
Beats the daylights outta missing.....
Wouldn’t it be better to have it explode a short distance from the warhead and pepper it with a thousand 1” steel balls?
Nike-Zeus
yep
You're right. We are much safer without any defense at all. /s
Absolutely WORTHLESS against Russian, Chinese and now North Korean maneuverable ICBM targeting stage and re-entry warheads.
Just looked it up ...
Nike-Zeus B was 400kT warhead. Spartan was 5MT.
We didn’t mess around back then.
We need to stop messing around, now.
yep
There are no “maneuverable” re-entry warheads.
Might not go in the right direction......................
Cue up the old Soutwest Airlines "Wanna get away?" audio.
Sure about that?
“This is all great and a testament to Reagans SDI vision, which the left derided as Star Wars nonsense. However, I am concerned that hypersonic missiles, already on the design table, may render this system technologically and economically prohibitive.”
Excellent points. I’m old enough to remember Sen. Kennedy getting nerds from MIT (in his home state of Mass.) to testify to Congress and go to all the Sunday talk shows and say it’s impossible to hit a bullet with another bullet and yada-yada. That’s why most of SDI isn’t designed in the northeast, but down in sweet home Alabama. Huntsville, AL has the highest engineer-per-capita of all American cities.
Hypersonic missiles are a good counter to SDI. However, I believe this test was against a hypersonic missile. Plus, the laser technology is advancing a lot better than I ever thought it would. That’s supposed to be a counter against Russia’s split warhead technique. I’ve read that lasers are not quite up there to make believe X-Wing fighter type stuff, but the duration a laser has to be on a target before the target’s internal systems are inert is much briefer than it used to be. Plus the re-fire of lasers is a lot quicker than it used to be (again, not as fast as sci-fi). Finally, the power source doesn’t have to be as large as it used to be (it’ll now fit on a military truck, where it used to have to be either land based or on a large ship).
And yes, I’m proud. The lasers are being designed in Huntsville, too. :)
Yep! Continuing this program is not in tune with our marxist masters' ideology...
Yep! Continuing this program is not in tune with our marxist masters' ideology...
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