Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Shields Up!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #76
    Okay. That was different that what I'd recalled the answer being. Thanks, Dan

    Still, "untested" in rocket lingo means it's going to explode on launch, especially as far as a country like NK goes.

    I have no doubt that they could fix the problems that I'm sure are going to plague it, but I really doubt it's less than 3-4 years away from realisation.

    My major argument against bmd however, is not that there are no valid threats which could be countered by it but that the probable benefits are outwighed by the costs, especially where China is concerned.
    12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
    Stadtluft Macht Frei
    Killing it is the new killing it
    Ultima Ratio Regum

    Comment


    • #77
      Kuciwalker, surely these countries know that the missile system doesnt work.
      "I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
      'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger

      Comment


      • #78
        This isn't aimed at China. They are already in the nuke club and could overwhelm any deterrent reasonably easily, if they decided to do so.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

        Comment


        • #79
          That's why it's in development. Duh.

          And obviously, any argument for ABM is going to assume that it's possible. Again duh.

          Comment


          • #80
            Originally posted by Kuciwalker
            Last time this issue came up, the argument for it basically boiled down to the fact that it deterred 3rd-world countries (like Iran or NK) from even trying to develop ICBM's, because they'd have to build a lot more for the missiles to be a useful deterrant - basically, it raises the bar for joining the nuclear club.
            No, it raises the bar for joining the ICBM club.

            Nuclear weapons are payload. ICBMs are delivery systems. They are not one and the same.
            12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
            Stadtluft Macht Frei
            Killing it is the new killing it
            Ultima Ratio Regum

            Comment


            • #81
              you knew what I meant

              Another point from that thread was that a FBoD can't really be used as a strategic deterrent...

              Comment


              • #82
                Originally posted by DanS
                This isn't aimed at China. They are already in the nuke club and could overwhelm any deterrent reasonably easily, if they decided to do so.
                And now they're going to decide to do so.

                China's arsenal includes a relatively small number of missiles capable of reaching the US.

                This is a distinct threat to their deterrent capability, and you can bet your ass that they're now in the process of increasing the number and range of their ICBM fleet.

                That's not good for anybody.
                12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                Stadtluft Macht Frei
                Killing it is the new killing it
                Ultima Ratio Regum

                Comment


                • #83
                  Originally posted by Kuciwalker
                  And obviously, any argument for ABM is going to assume that it's possible. Again duh.
                  Whether this assumption is reasonable is quite another issue all together.
                  (\__/) 07/07/1937 - Never forget
                  (='.'=) "Claims demand evidence; extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence." -- Carl Sagan
                  (")_(") "Starting the fire from within."

                  Comment


                  • #84
                    Originally posted by Kuciwalker
                    you knew what I meant

                    Another point from that thread was that a FBoD can't really be used as a strategic deterrent...
                    Yes it can.
                    12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                    Stadtluft Macht Frei
                    Killing it is the new killing it
                    Ultima Ratio Regum

                    Comment


                    • #85
                      KH: While true, why would we care about ICBM's if they didn't have nukes attached to them?
                      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        if anything i would try to develop something before this system comes to work, if it ever does.
                        "I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
                        'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger

                        Comment


                        • #87
                          That's not good for anybody.
                          I think that's relatively benign for everybody. It would be maybe 50 or 100 extra nukes. Nothing to worry about.
                          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                          Comment


                          • #88
                            DanS, behold the feared fungal payload!!! it will increase insurance rates 10 fold!
                            "I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
                            'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Originally posted by KrazyHorse
                              Yes it can.
                              What's Iran going to do? Say "capitulate or we'll unleash the fishing boats of doom?"

                              A deterrent, a threat, requires that there be some way to announce the impending attack (and that the attack actually is threatening). A stealth delivery method doesn't exactly lend itself to that.

                              Comment


                              • #90
                                Originally posted by DanS
                                KH: While true, why would we care about ICBM's if they didn't have nukes attached to them?
                                You're going the wrong way:

                                I'm saying that this guards against the least likely method of delivery of a nuke to the US.

                                Even NK isn't going to lob a nuke at the US unless Pyongyang was being overrun.

                                ICBMs are the exclusive property of relatively advanced states. Nukes are not, necessarily.
                                12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                                Stadtluft Macht Frei
                                Killing it is the new killing it
                                Ultima Ratio Regum

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X