12-10-2010, 04:48 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Quote:
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12-10-2010, 04:51 PM | #22 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
They're cleaner than nukes, and much easier to scale to relatively small explosions. Also not as (currently) politically sensitive as nukes.
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12-10-2010, 04:57 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Yes. A fixed-wing aircraft with an L/D ratio of 15 (which is a reasonable-to-low estimate) needs roughly 1.5 mps of delta-V to loiter for an hour, and uses an air-breathing engine that's typically on the order of ten times as efficient as a rocket.
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12-11-2010, 10:24 AM | #25 |
"Gimme 18 minutes . . ."
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Albuquerque, NM
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Anyone know of any good videos of orbital strikes? I think it'd be a neat game aid, but all the ones I can find are from video games and a) look cheesy, and b) don't have a large enough blast radius.
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12-11-2010, 11:44 AM | #26 | |
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Jeffersonville, Ind.
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
For what it's worth there's real talk about using ICBMs armed with guided KE projectiles for city-block sized targets. Of course the question of whether than Minuteman missile has an atom bomb or a KE device is hard to rectify while maintaining surprise. So right now it's a very real idea, but politically it's ugly.
For that matter, why not cover the projective with a non-ablative heat shield? We do that today with MIRVs, so why not a far-future setting? Edit: Real world reentry footage.
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The user formerly known as ciaran_skye. __________________ Quirks: Doesn't proofread forum posts before clicking "Submit". [-1] Quote:
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12-11-2010, 12:00 PM | #27 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Quote:
http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...e-warfare.html Since the comment section is so long, here are a few posts that look at kinetic strikes in detail without having to wade through everything else http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...13515816863794 http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...41732993151813 http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...09325401054726 http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...31419359788672 http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/...93160457306775 (and the next several dozen after it) |
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12-11-2010, 02:07 PM | #28 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Quote:
EDIT: Not video, but Frank Miller's Give me Liberty has illustrations of orbital laser strikes. |
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12-11-2010, 02:47 PM | #29 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cowtown, Canada
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
Some effect of the particle beam?
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FYI: Laser burns HURT! |
12-11-2010, 02:51 PM | #30 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: How hard is orbital bombardment
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Tags |
in space, orbital bombardment, planetary siege, space warfare, spaceship |
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