EMAIL SIGN UP!
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
US Developing New Non-Nuclear Missiles
Conventional warheads could strike anywhere in less than an hour
As the White House pushes for cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, the Pentagon is developing a weapon to help fill the gap: missiles armed with conventional warheads that could strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.
Launched from a B-52, the proposed X-51 hypersonic cruise missile could travel 600 miles in 10 minutes to strike elusive, fleeting targets. The mission: Attack anywhere in the world in less than an hour. But is the Pentagon's bold program a critical new weapon for hitting elusive targets, or a good way to set off a nuclear war? U.S. military officials say the intercontinental ballistic missiles,
known as Prompt Global Strike weapons, are a necessary new form of
deterrence against terrorist networks and other adversaries. As
envisioned, the conventional missiles would give the White House a
fresh military option to consider in a crisis that would not result in
a radioactive mushroom cloud.
The Prompt Global Strike program, which the Pentagon has been developing for several years, is already raising hackles in Moscow, where Russian officials predict it could trigger a nonnuclear arms race and complicate President Obama's long-term vision of ridding the world of nuclear weapons. U.S. military officials are also struggling to solve a separate major obstacle: the risk that Russia or China could mistake the launch of a conventional Prompt Global Strike missile for a nuclear one.
"World states will hardly accept a situation in which nuclear weapons disappear, but weapons that are no less destabilizing emerge in the hands of certain members of the international community," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Tuesday in Moscow.
The White House says that development of Prompt Global Strike is not affected by the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are scheduled to sign Thursday in Prague. Analysts say, however, that any conventional ballistic missiles would count the same as nuclear ones under the treaty, which places new limits on each country's stockpile.
Deployment of a conventional ballistic missile is not expected until 2015 at the earliest. But the program has received a recent boost from the Obama administration, which sees the missiles as one cog in an array of defensive and offensive weapons that could ultimately replace nuclear arms.
The administration has asked Congress for $240 million for next year's Prompt Global Strike development programs, a 45 percent increase from the current budget. The military forecasts a total of $2 billion in development costs through 2015 -- a relative bargain by Pentagon standards.
After years of preparation, the Air Force is scheduled to perform an initial flight test of a prototype next month.
"Capabilities like an adaptive missile defense shield, conventional warheads with worldwide reach and others that we are developing enable us to reduce the role of nuclear weapons," Vice President Biden said in a February speech at the National Defense University. "With these modern capabilities, even with deep nuclear reductions, we will remain undeniably strong."
Nuclear arms have formed the backbone of U.S. deterrence strategy for six decades. Although the strategy worked during the Cold War, military leaders say they need other powerful weapons in their arsenal to deter adversaries who assume that the United States would refrain from taking the extreme step of ordering a nuclear strike.
"Deterrence can no longer just be nuclear weapons. It has to be broader," Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a leading proponent of Prompt Global Strike, told a conference last month.
Some U.S. military officials say their current nonnuclear options are too limited or too slow. Unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound, it can take up to 12 hours for cruise missiles to hit faraway targets. Long-range bombers likewise can take many hours to fly into position for a strike.
"Today, unless you want to go nuclear, it's measured in days, maybe weeks" until the military can launch an attack with regular forces, Cartwright said. "That's just too long in the world that we live in." Other military officials said potential scenarios might include the discovery of an imminent plot by terrorists to use a weapon of mass destruction, or indications that an enemy state was preparing to launch a missile attack on a U.S. ally.
The Air Force prototype Prompt Global Strike design is a modified Peacekeeper III intercontinental ballistic missile. If it is successful, the plan is to deploy a handful of the missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The weapons would be overseen by the U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, who leads the command, based near Omaha, has said he sees Prompt Global Strike as a niche weapon, not one that could substitute for nuclear arms.
"I look at that as an additional weapon in the quiver of the president to give him options in time of crisis today, in which he maybe only has a nuclear option for a timely response," Chilton told a House committee last month.
Although it is technically simple to replace nuclear warheads on a missile with conventional ones, Prompt Global Strike has been dogged by a significant problem: how to ensure that Russia could tell the difference if a launch occurred.
To alleviate the risk of an accidental Russian nuclear retaliation, the Air Force is developing a conventional, land-based ballistic missile that would fire into space at a much lower altitude than nuclear warheads, something that could be detected by Russian early-warning radar systems. U.S. military officials have also said they might be willing to grant access to Russian inspectors, or warn Moscow about a conventional strike on a third-party target.
The Army is working on a separate design that is not as far along in its development. The Navy had been preparing yet another design -- a conventional version of its submarine-based Trident missile -- but Congress curtailed that program two years ago because of concerns that it was too difficult to distinguish from a nuclear-armed Trident.
Critics acknowledge that the technological hurdles are surmountable. But they say a more basic problem is that taking the nuclear part out of the equation could make it too easy for the White House to order a Prompt Global Strike attack. Intelligence in fast-breaking crises is rarely rock-solid, they note, and could result in a rushed strike on the wrong target.
"People watch '24' and think that's how intelligence comes in," said Jeffrey G. Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation. "It's not like the president has his brain cybernetically linked to satellite images."
But proponents of Prompt Global Strike said its primary value would be in adding a level of deterrence to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. "At the end of the day, anybody who would be your adversary walks away thinking, 'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to pay dearly,' " Cartwright said last month. "There just can't be any doubt in their mind."
- Posted in
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
71 Comments so far
Show AllThis is going to be good...
Yea we all saw what happened to some innocent people in that leaked military video from a few days ago. And they were relatively close to the helicopter that killed them.
And don't forget all the innocents that get killed by the drones. So now we'll be able to pull this crap anywhere in the world in an hour. I can see what will end up happening, these things will probably cost millions of dollars each, and will be used to blow up some "terrorist" in a tent or in his 1980s Toyota Corolla. Pretty cost effective huh?
I can envision a scenario like this playing out. The military will announce for the 20th time that they killed the second in command of the Al-Qaeda. But later it will be found that the "terrorist" was really a husband driving his wife to the hospital to deliver their first child. All three were killed instantly.
It turns out that this family dies on the same day that the Supreme Court Reverses Roe vs. Wade, and conservatives everywhere rejoice that the unborn will no longer be killed by abortion doctors. The irony of the death of the Arab family by an American made hypersonic weapon, will never even cross their minds.
Iran has been saying all along that they don't need nukes for defense.
Unacceptable destruction is all it takes.
Iran has no defense to speak of against israel and the USA, its clumsy conventional missiles can barely reach israel.
The most Iran could do after suffering a sneak attack by USA/israel would be have a few surviving bombers penetrate israels defenses.
The USA does not attack nations that can retaliate whereas israel will attack any nation ( Samson Option).
The Start Treaty is meaningless without radification.
I do not see Russia radifying it with ABMs on there doorstep, is this a violation of the ABM treaty or has that never been radified either?
And good luck getting the 70 vote radification in the Senate, will never happen under Obomber.
They are closing multiple schools in my District through lack of funding, but there is no lack of funding for "elusive targets".
Cruise missiles can strike in 12 hours and Cartwright says it takes days.
More money for the corrupt worse than useless MIC.
Please someone wake me when this nightmare is over.
Iran doesn't seem to think it is a nightmare in that they have told both Israel and the US that they can inflict unacceptable damage without nukes if attacked.
This article seems to be about what the US military learned from that fact.
JG 3:51 --------- And How Praytell.
Most likely for Iranian domestic consumption.
Nothing is a fact until proven, who is foolish enough to believe a politician?
All arms treaties proposed and sent to the Senate have been passed in the last 40 years so I would expect that this one will as well.
Why would Russia sign it and then not ratify it?
Why would we?
Anyway the ABM issue is and has always been a red herring for Putin to get more concessions from us. ABMs in Europe don't serve any threat to Russian missiles being fired at the US or at Europe. Missiles fired at the US could never pass over Europe to hit the US they just don't fly like that, they all go over the Pole except maybe to the West Coast or Alaska and then they don't go over Europe. The ABM launchers in Europe were to have been 10 1 shot launchers. Do you think that even if they were 100% effective, the Russians have a couple more than 10 missiles? If they were serious, they'd fire 11 and at least one would get through. No threat at all.
As to the ABM treaty, we withdrew from it in 2002 as allowed in its protocol so that this system could be developed.
FWIW, if you live on the coasts, you can see the remains of our first ABM system that was dismantled when the ABM went into effect in 1972. All over the Bay Area are old missile (ABM) sites. One in fact is the storage area for the Marine Mammals Center in Marin County. One is on Mt. Sutro, One is at Fort Funston, One in the Marin Headlands (now a museum) One was in San Bruno off Skyline Blvd. In Tilden Park in Berkeley. Off Bollinger Canyon Rd. One at Lake Chabot. One at the Eastern end of the Dumnbarton Bridge. One on Angel Island. One in the Persidio. And the last one in McInnes park in Novato. Don't know where they are in other cities, but they are there in a lot of areas.
I believe the Repugs have already said they will not vote for it.
Basically the Repug strategy is not to vote for anything Obomber wants.
Has cluster bombs or mines treaties come to Congress ?
Just for information: Those sites weren't ABM sites, they were Nike sites, anti aircraft missiles. Even the B-47's were afraid of them. I guess they were finally phased out when the cold war iced over or when ICBM's came to the fore.
The insanity continues. The thinking that says if we just have enough weapons, we'll make ourselves safer. And the reality is just the opposite. "When will they ever learn" is a line from the song "Where have all the Flowers Gone." When this beautiful blue Earth is a charred cinder flying thru space?
Such horseshit.
Not only does this proposed weapons system sabotage the entire goal of using START treaty negotiations to legitimately downscale the threat of global nuclear holocaust, but the years of prep work, testing, and the anticipated deployment schedule outlined in this article is a classic instance of military/industrial complex financial boondoggle generating massive, entirely needless taxpayer expense.
All this hi tech crap really creates is an excuse to prolong the operational life of the B-52 bomber, converting them from the Dr. Strangelove-model Air Force leg of the Cold War nuclear tripod into a glorified platform for launching big conventional cruise missles from America's venerable, aging BUF bomber fleet.
This "technological breakthrough" scrambles up and trumps decades of on-again, off-again diplomatic efforts towards genuine nuclear disarmament. It actually destabilizes the international system, increasing the risk of accidental war. If that weren't bad enough, continued deployment of this so-called Peacekeeper III system wastes a catastrophic amount of tax dollars in exchange for zero deterrent or military strategic benefit, while feeding the very dangerous political notion that whatever manly man holds the keys to the Oval Office has yet another "option on the table" to recklessly diddle around with.
Time to take the toys away from the boys.
Bill from Saginaw
"All this hi tech crap really creates is an excuse to prolong the operational life of the B-52 bomber, "
How's that? These are intercontinental ballistic missiles weighing thousands of pounds that need to be launched upright from silos. Why would that have anything to do with B-52s? Which are BUFFs not BUFs BTW.
ADDITION: I see the caption on the photo of a B-52 launched cruise missile. The text of the article talks about balistic missiles. These are two different things so I assume that the photo may have come from a separate article? Anyway, the original poster is correct then, it would lengthen the life of the B-52 fleet.
"NON-NUCLEAR WARHEADS"?????
The article fails to mention just what material will be deployed in these warheads..This leaves my imagination in hyperdrive...
I remember during the "Nuclear Test Ban Treaty" that the U.S. Government decided it was just fine to reopen the files on "Hydrogen Bomb" technology and A well heeled Hydrogen Bomb developement program was initiated much to the chagrin of the Russians...Hydrogen Bombs are horrific in their destructive capabilities...I'm just not sure that in this Governments vernacular that splitting "hydrogen atoms" instead of "uranium/plutonium atoms" classifies HBs as "non-nuclear" or not...Can someone help me out here???
Could these missiles possibly be armed with low or high yield Hydrogen Bombs??? I know A bit about Nuclear deterrence and MAD but I also know that the U.S. Fascist machine wouldn't want to irradiate the Mid-East oilfields with the radioactive halflife of Plutonium isotope...It would defeat the oil grab strategy..
The U.S. Government is the largest contractor on the face of this Planet and Eisenhower warned us about this...He also intended to call it the "congressional" Military, Industrial Complex...Einstein stated that the 4th world war would be fought with sticks and stones...Something must be done to stop the MADNESS!!!!! "We need A REVOLUTION at least every 100 years" -Thomas Jefferson.....
I don't believe that any of the superpowers have built nuclear fission bombs (uranium/plutonium) since 1950s.
they have all been nuclear fusion bombs (hydrogen). you get much more kick from an H-bomb.
so, yes they consider H-bombs as nuclear and they are subject to the SALT and START treaties.
only small powers have been building fission bombs, because they are simple.
Remember, a fusion reaction is triggered by enormous temperature and pressure, hence an atomic "fission" bomb is used as the trigger.
"A Nuclear Veteran Remembers"
http://steveosborn.blogspot.com/2010/02/only-some-of-names-have-changed.html
gottagetoffthegrid,
Thanks for the clarifying info...The article, by not mentioning the warhead ingredients had me thinking in the worse case scenario, which our Pentagon usually delivers on....
Entirely dispicable!!! The U.S has fallen to the lowest rung of the moral ladder and i suggest that the world engage a BOYCOTT, DIVEST AND SANCTION of all U.S. products and refuse Americans entry into any country until they decide to become civilized and start cooperating with peaceful solutions to the challenges of our times!!
This would be a good idea - or only allow us to enter as refugees on humanitarian grounds.
"Today, unless you want to go nuclear, it's measured in days, maybe weeks" until the military can launch an attack with regular forces, Cartwright said. "That's just too long in the world that we live in."
-----------------
I was thinking the same thing!
Our enemies are EVERYWHERE!
We need to be able to strike FASTER, FASTER, FASTER!
KILL, KILL, KILL! DIE, DIE, DIE!
Okay, I've calmed down now...whew!
These psychotic neanderthals are going to be the death of us all.
Wouldn't it be so much cheaper simply to get these guys some mental health care?
Ditto. They need it. (Along with instruction on how to meditate.)
P.S. I've been in kindergarten classes where five year olds do a better job learning how it's important not to call other people names or hit someone just because they get angry or frustrated. So my other suggestion: Obama, his cabinet, his "consultants," and all members of Congress, along with their congressional staff persons, should be required to enroll as students in a kindergarten class for two weeks. They'll learn to play nice with each other, take turns, share, say nice things about one another, and will also learn that if they don't, they'll be separated from the rest of the group and given a "time out" to settle down and refocus before doing anything stupid.
I was watching some Russian media recently. They seem to see the Obama government as a child of the old USSR and its belief in internationalism and revolution. Bush and Obama would call it globalization and regime change. This new weapon won't change any minds in Moscow or elsewhere.
Whether you put death satelites in space to laser beam people, or you send Blackwater to shoot people in the back of the head, or you buy these missiles, you still are on the wrong track. Will Obama get a declaration of war before attacking countries with these missiles in that one hour he has to make the decision? Of course not. Bush had months and years to cook the books on Iraq intelligence before he invaded with the army he had and still the war is illegal and based on lies. So how is spending money that could have gone to universal healthcare, that you now won't get, how is that going to make your lives any better?
MIC and violence bankrupted the USSR --
We're next --
.
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
I guess the defense industry complained about the financial/insurance bailouts. This will restore the prior proportionality.
Anyone out there capable of reeling in the U.S. military industrial complex? I don't think so.
I find your question very interesting to think about. Do we as a generation have the moral courage to do what we know we must do if the children of today are going to have any kind of future? Those two questions go hand in hand, don't you think?
I am Pollyanna and a sap for happy endings so I will keep on fighting until the very end. This one Daughter living the life of Nancy Drew trying to solve the riddle of David Duke. Hoping that someone out there has the courage to join the fight against the evil in the world and would want to solve the riddle with me.
I also know it could go the other way. I give the chances 50/50 at this point. If we have any chance of winning though the PROGRESSIVES are going to have to start being real men and FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS COUNTRY. If they are not willing to fight and pick up the torches of Presidents like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy than I hate to say this but this country could be defeated. That is what White Nationalists like David Duke want. THEY WANT THE UNITED STATES TO FALL SO OUT OF THE ASHES THEY CAN BUILD THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST NATION. What is David Duke saying to the President of Iran and other radical Muslim enemies of the United States? I know he is speaking to them about America but I don't know What he is actually saying yet. That is the next riddle to solve. Progressives have got to stop being WHIMPS. I say it, because this daughter from personal experience has found instead of real men who will help a girl do the right thing; found selfish men who didn't even take the time to talk to me and find out for themselves what was really going on, instead of just listening to rumors. I was a true friend and I desterved to be treated better. Are the people in power ready to join the war and FIGHT or will they continue to make excuses for being selfish and not willing to FIGHT TO SAVE THIS NATION THAT THEY WERE TAUGHT TO LOVE. AS PDAR(Political Daughter of the American Revolution) I feel very sad. My heart is breaking when I see what is going on and Progressive American men who will not fight.I do get discouraged when I can't find anyone in power who is willing to do the right thing.
NSDAR taught me to love God, Country, Family. In our meetings I had my hand over my heart and looking at the flag swearing to defend this country from all enemies foreign and domestic. I spoke those words from my heart. As a daughter I can get information on David Duke which I have been doing. Now it is time to take the fight to the next phase. Have Americans LOST THEIR WILL TO FIGHT? Maybe it is to late to FIGHT? But I just can't give in without a fight. I have never been one to give up from trying to do the right thing. My ancestors who built this nation deserve better than for me their daughter to just give in and not even try to save the United States. And the children deserve to have us who are at the helm of this nation FIGHT for THEIR FUTURE. We are living in dangerous days. Will Progressive Men step up to the plate and fight? If they are willing to be STRONG AMERICAN MEN WHO ARE GOING TO STEP IN AND FIGHT then I believe we still have time to SAVE THIS NATION FROM FALLING. The time period to fight is getting shorter and shorter so if we don't start fighting soon we will be defeated I fear and men like David Duke and his radical Muslim friends will have won.
So Do I think anyone can defeat the evil Dragan? I give it 50/50.
The Dragon is not evil. The Dragon is power. It is the Dragon that will take the snake that US man has become and tear it apart. Those of us men who live with women are more capable and effective in confrontation than the wankers who live only in the masculine. We have something to fight for.
I searched NSDAR and found that it never mentions the victims of US aggression. It makes me wonder with whom you mean to fight. Could it be the victims? In the light of which 50/50 takes on ominous tones. Are you sitting on the fence Pollyanna? Wringing your hands is not enough, ideed it could make an accomplice of you.
Who funds NSDAR?
"Anyone out there capable of reeling in the U.S. military industrial complex? I don't think so."
You built up a straw man, then knocked him down. Not very helpful.
How about asking a helpful question? How about: Is EVERYONE out there capable of reeling in the US MIC? Then, the answer has to be yes. Everyone does not literally mean every single person, but a conglomeration of many, many people each doing her/his part to reel in the MIC.
If we do not, each of us, personally do what we can to reel in the MIC, then we really have no authority to even ask such a question. We are simply being more layers of the same problem that is smothering this world.
As long as patriarchy is running the world, violence will
be the way --
And the way will be suicide --
We already have Global Warming which isn't by any means
a minor threat to humanity and planet.
If we want to survive at all -- in peace -- we have to
rid ourselves of patriarchy and its underpinning system
of organized patriarchal religion and capitalism --
all based on exploitation of nature, humanity, planet.
.
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
Think in the masculine,
Live in the feminine,
And be the Brook of the world.
To be the Brook of the world is
To move constantly in the path of virtue
Without swerving from it,
Being aware again of infancy.
Tao Teh Ching; No.28 (after John C.H. Wu)
This is not a religious statement. Tao is not a religion as we understand religion. Only a chauvinist will think it is and although the west is sickeningly full of those the truth is not democratic . What is quoted above is common sense expressed resonantly as the Chinese language can do but within the severe, shallow limitations of English.
There is really something wrong in the USA.
Either we fix it with the citizens of the USA or we will have to fix it on our own in which case every US citizen anywhere in the world(the world includes the USA)will become a target. The latter is close. After all the US already seems to think any human in any street in the world is a target and amazing as it may seem, everybody in any street in the world already watches any US citizen with an understanding influenced by the blood and murder that accompanies the US presence.
Make every man your enemy and every man will be your enemy. I repeat: This is close.
All the true masters have spoken to what the Tao speaks to. Gandhi said it also: Be the change you want to see in the world.
It really is as simple as that. Not easy to practice, but perfect in its simplicity.
We all have the answer within us. The Buddha said that that is where our answers lie. We need to listen to ourselves and then live as we believe.
"U.S. military officials say the intercontinental ballistic missiles, known as Prompt Global Strike weapons, are a necessary new form of deterrence against terrorist networks and other adversaries."
Response: Deterence?
Hogwash! The US already has the ability to attack anywhere, anytime, with as much force as it wants and hasn't stopped attacks against the US (citizens, armed forces, bases and other property). As long as the US attacks other countries, occupies other countries supports the occupation of other countries (Israel's occupation of Palestine), and supports puppet governments that suppress the rights of their own citizens, the US will be susceptible to attacks. The idea that we can bomb or threaten other countries into submission is a myth that those in power and M$M outlets like the Washington Post in this article push without actually stating those words (rather it is worded more subtlety).
"Attention, Russian and Chinese Strategic Command! Pay no attention to that incoming missile you are tracking, it is not a nuke, repeat, it is not a nuke. We are just firing a non-nuclear missile to take out a terrorist wedding party. Trust us! Would we lie to you?"
This is the beginning of the end, folks.
The United(?) States Government feels it has the absolute right to bomb anybody on the planet who may harbor some hatred or dislike of the nation that is invading an destroying any nation it wishes to target; anybody who, in its opinion, may someday, somehow, somewhere, act against us or our corporate interests.
Should we be in error, never mind, it is just more collateral damage. "See the supply sergeant and he will cut you a voucher for some money to compensate for your wife and kids. All square now? You be good, y'heah?"
"Base, I see some people walking in the square. One is carrying either a stick or a rifle. There are some obviously disguised as women so they are definitely terrorists. Permission to fire?"
"Roger that, waste 'em."
And another wedding party goes to hell, or preferably to heaven.
We've turned the Middle East into a killing ground. If someone is walking in the open, he is obviously a disguised terrorist. If someone is running, he is obviously a terrorist trying to escape. Waste them! Activity in a building? Looks like families living there. Aren't those terrorists clever with their disguises these days. Waste 'em.
Eventually, it will come home to roost and we, too, shall come under the same "Rules of engagement." "There is an anti-war demonstration coming down the street. Terrorist sympathizers with accompanying terrorists hidden in the group. Permission to fire?"
"Waste 'em."
"Never mind the kids, they shouldn't have brought them to a terrorist demonstration. It is their fault."
Frankly, I think these conventional missiles, if ever used, will receive an instant nuclear response by those capable of defending themselves.
We're toast.
The Middle East has been a test bed for our remotely-operated weapons systems since the first Gulf War. The use of unmanned drones in this region has been steadily accelerating since 2003.
All warfare going forward is going to be related, directly or indirectly, to control of resources. Oil, gas, wood, fresh water, precious metals.
The Middle East seems to be the epicenter for the eventual garrisoning of the entire planet by the trans-national corporate sector which can well afford to subsidize the military technology to support its agenda.
["Attention, Russian and Chinese Strategic Command! Pay no attention to that incoming missile you are tracking, it is not a nuke, repeat, it is not a nuke. We are just firing a non-nuclear missile to take out a terrorist wedding party. Trust us! Would we lie to you?"
This is the beginning of the end, folks.]
I fear you're quite right. There's no way a nation like China or Russia wouldn't react if they saw an ICBM that had a trajectory over their territory. They'd launch their arsenals on the warning (or at least as much of their arsenal as they could launch...) of those missiles flying over, or near their airspace.
This is a weapon that is designed to bring about a nuclear holocaust.
All part of the Lex Luthor Theory of International Relations.
An Imperial strategy for a new world order.
You and I might think this is appalling - the US hubristically arrogating to itself the role of the almighty, striking down lesser beings with thunderbolts. But I guarantee the majority of citizens will think this just dandy - look, whole countries bombed back to the stone age in an hour. Don't underestimate the depths of fear, rage and hatred seething under the flag.
The big danger is that "Collaterals" will get us when we aren't looking. This technology will enable us to sleep well at night, when the "Collaterals" come out.
A weapon that goes thru orbit and comes back to the earth is going to pack a hell of a kinetic energy punch. It wouldn't need to have explosives to match a Nagasaki type of explosion, just mass.
Remember those huge gas bombs that were to be as large and deadly as a small nuke? That is probably your warhead.
A Fuel Air Explosive? Don't you think that the heat of re-entry would set them off before they could get to the target? I suppose there's ways around that issue, but really just using a half ton of lead falling from 100-250 miles would make one hell of a big hole.
If you wanted to replicate the 1908 meteor/comet strike in Siberia I suppose you could design a big snow/ice ball that would explode at a nice height...
But if you use the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle just hurl a heavy rock. It worked for our earliest ancestors after all. (grin) And as a bonus, we'd be able to prove Einstein wrong and start WWIII by throwing a big rock. (evil grin)
Boycott Boeing, fly Airbus.
http://ribh.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/boycott-boeing-fly-airbus/
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~gcozens/made_in_usa/made_in_usa_aircraft.htm
http://www.karmabanque.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=KarmaBoycott&file=boycott&id=304
"The X-51 program is a consortium between Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The customers are the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with support from NASA."
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/waverider/index.html
Our only hope my fellow Americans is to allow the South to secede--also Texas and any others of the non-coastal states that want to drop -out. This we should have done a long time ago. Let the tea-party folks secede! This is bound to reduce our urge to rule the world. Let other folks give this a shot--perhaps the Chinese can do way better at world domination than we do.
I believe the first of the White Papers in this series came out in 1996. Anyone not familiar with this program might want to take a look at it:
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usaf/2025/
I personally do not think this is a theoretical exercise.
*sigh*
I was writing about "Space Command" over a decade ago. They had a pretty up front web site, showing targets being destroyed by energy weapons from space, cities being blown up, etc. I passed that site on to as many people as I could find. Suddenly, it disappeared and a few weeks later was reconstructed just as cute as a bug's ear. Even a kid's game site. All the pictures were gone. Plenty of propaganda about our absolute need to control the "high Ground." The "Peaceful uses of Space Treaty" was sneeringly derided as naive. At that time, this darling of the neo-con set was to be implemented by 2020. Must be cost overrides slowing it down.
Most of these comments rightly point out the insanity of believing weapons and the threat to use them will somehow "protect" us. What it does, is to perpetuate paranoia and instabilty around the globe while at the same time, wasting brilliant scientist's talents, immense waste of dollars and worst of all, causing many deaths, injuries, horrible misery, and devastating destruction.
Harmonious, creative cooperation with the rest of our human family can be accomplished with mutual respect and extending the hand of friendship for solving the problems that create the climate of distrust and resentment. The grim reality that so many national leaders in the world put all of us at risk with their illogical, immoral, focus on "kill the other guy faster and better" emphasizes the fact that those of us who realize this is a huge mistake, must take every step possible to cooperate in helping change this dreadful mindset. One way is to support the NGOs like Peace Action, Ploughshares, Veterans Against War and the few politicians Like Kucinich, Feingold, Grayson, Wasserman and others who understand what "peace" really means.
I was going to suggest the same thing.
It would be much better to solve the problems that would prompt the perceived need for near-instant, global military strikes. Stop giving the neocons their wet dreams already.
"At the end of the day, anybody who would be your adversary walks away thinking, 'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to pay dearly,' " Cartwright said last month. "There just can't be any doubt in their mind."
Well do it, USA, and recognise you are going to pay dearly. Live by the ballistic missile and die by the ballistic missile.
Really where does that USA get these idiots from? The USA is already paying dearly in Iraq and Afghanistan, AND IS BOUND TO PAY A GREAT DEAL MORE IN THE COMING YEARS. The expenses are mounting day by day in terms of what the USA must legally and morally repair.
I remember back in the 60s' presidential primary Elections Hubert Humphrey stating that: 'We weren't bombing innocent civilians or civilian populaces in Viet Nam". He made it sound like only deadly V.C. guerrillas were being selectivly taken out...The civilian casualty rate in the wars we rage has been on A steady incline...We are also one of A very small handfull of Nations that refuses to ban land mines...These things indiscriminately murder and maim innocent people of all ages years after conflicts are over. This is about as Evil as Evil gets in my book...
If every innocent civilian victimized by our war ordinance had the ability to sue these armaments manufacturers for damages in an "International Court of Law", companys such as Boeing and Lockheed would no longer find war profitable.
This BULLSHIT FKN MADNESS MUST BE STOPPED...Anyone who knowingly makes their living from this evil indescrimminate money for blood scheme has no right to live here on this planet!!!...Like Noam Chompsy once said: "Every U.S. President since FDR if tryed in the courts of Nuremberg would be guilty of War crimes...And that FKN GENOCIDAL MURDERER named Henry Kissinger is still breathing.....