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 [F] New York Times on the Web Forums  / Science  /

    Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.


Earliest Messages Previous Messages Recent Messages Outline (6641 previous messages)

kalter.rauch - 07:01am Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6642 of 6649)
Earth vs <^> <^> <^>

I'm serious......this "FORUM" is a TOTAL INSULT to everyone else in these Science Forums.

How is it that Rshow, Lunarchick, Almarst, Commondata, and Manjumicha fill the bandwidth with COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC material for OVER 6500 posts when OTHER Forums recently had their material purged at a 4000 post limit? That's as juvenile as I can put it!!!

This FORUM is labeled "MISSLE DEFENSE"......not "Anti-US Propaanda"!!!

Believe me...I'll take this further if I have to!!!

STICK TO THE TOPIC!!!

lunarchick - 07:26am Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6643 of 6649)

Iraq the ONE WEEK WAR

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=361736

Is this a long week or a short week?

    satellite-guided smart bombs known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs)
    The smart bombs available have also been upgraded. The GBU-28 "bunker-busters" have been upgraded by the BLU-31. Designed to penetrate hardened underground facilities, these have also been equipped with a new device called the hard-target smart fuse, which allows the bomb to "count" how many floors it needs to penetrate before detonating. A new category of bomb is the thermobaric device – only one was used in Afghanistan, and missed its target – which can penetrate indoor or underground spaces and then set off a blast of heat and pressure strong enough to destroy biological agents such as anthrax or smallpox.
    One weapon that is completely untested in battle is the microwave bomb, which British and US experts have been working on for several years. Exploding in mid-air, these bombs release pulses of magnetic energy that seek out electrical systems and computers and burn them out – even if they are buried underground. These can also be used to create a fizzing sensation on a person's skin
    "If it's available and we get into a situation where we are looking at urban warfare, it will definitely be used. They may not be man-portable, but having them on the back of a truck would not be a problem."
    Other new or updated weapons include an improved battle tank, the Abrams MI A2, the Apache Longbow helicopter and a high-altitude version of the unmanned Pred- ator drone, which can be used to carry satellite surveillance equipment or Hellfire missiles. Another is the Stryker, an armoured fighting vehicle offering great manoeuvrability. Planners believe it could be so important that – unlike the recent campaigns in Kosovo and Afghanistan – ground forces could play as important a role as bombers.
    Pike | "I think when this war is written up it will emerge as the re-emergence of the importance of land power," he said.
So what's the point in having silos of missiles - that cost a lot to maintain - if the reality is they're useless!

lunarchick - 07:41am Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6644 of 6649)

Kissenger - didn't he get a big budget .... how much is left?

lunarchick - 07:47am Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6645 of 6649)

Iraq - buying peace

'The logic is, if Saddam can buy them, then so can the Americans,' said one tribal leader who fled to the UK.


lunarchick - 08:19am Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6646 of 6649)

"" INSTEAD of one rogue nation testing his patience, President George Bush now has all three members of his “axis of evil” openly defying attempts by America to limit the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1500308

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