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| Remember those Russians with their Hypersonic thingies? |
| 2004-02-22 |
| A little bit more detail on that "hypersonic weapon" the russkies had from yesterday Russia successfully tested a space vehicle that could lead to weapons capable of penetrating missile defenses, a senior general said Thursday. He insisted the device was not meant to counter U.S. efforts to develop an anti-missile shield. Funny I couldâve sworn he just said yesterday that it would make âany missile defence useless,â must be back tracking already for future um...mishaps. Analysts said the device may be part of a campaign to bolster Russiaâs global clout gee ya think? and burnish President Vladimir Putinâs image ahead of March elections he is expected to win. It could also be an effort to restore prestige to the countryâs military, which has suffered near-collapse since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991... The Russian news Web site Gazeta.ru, citing unnamed General Staff officials, said the vehicle was a warhead with engines that would direct it as it approached a target, rather than going into free fall. Whoopee..they got a MARV, a bit behind the times arenât they? Phil Coyle, a senior adviser to the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, said Russia had been working on such a system for years and âit would not be surprising if they finally succeeded.â Yes especially since we had them 15 years ago with the Trident D-5âs at the very least. Putin said that the weapons development wasnât directed against the United States, and Baluyevsky reaffirmed the statement. Wonder who its aimed at intimidating then? âThe experiment conducted by us mustnât be interpreted as a warning to the Americans not to build their missile defense because we designed this thing,â Baluyevsky told The Associated Press. âWe have demonstrated our capability, but we have no intention to build this craft tomorrow.â Yuh I guess those pesky cash problems can build up, especially when your missiles donât launch, or when they DO launch they prematurely explode. Doesnât quite bode well eh guys? Now the US response.. The United States reacted calmly to the Russian plans. âIf youâre in that business â intercontinental ballistic missiles and warheads â you want them to be survivable, and maneuverability is one way to increase their survivability against any potential defenses,â Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said when asked about the statements Putin made Wednesday. âTheyâve got to design a missile force that they think is sufficient for deterrence, just like we do.â Gen. Myers was noticed whispering to Rumsfeld later on inquiring if the "Death Star Project" was complete yet. The Russian militaryâs widely reported troubles â including severe funding shortages, low morale, poor conditions for servicemen and the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster of 2000 â have undermined Putinâs push for Russia to reassert itself as a military power. Underscoring that, the exercises were marred this week by two failed missile launches from nuclear submarines... Yes I suspect all that would undermine the militaryâs efforts not to mention morale Baluyevsky also said that Russia was developing a new, submarine-based ballistic missile and a new nuclear submarine equipped to carry it that would enter service this decade. And he said the military was developing a new ground-based missile. Russia had informed the United States about its intention to conduct the experiment and U.S. officials didnât complain, he said. Sounds like we wanted to see if they actually made some improvements. RTWT One final note, yesterday the article said it was a "hypersonic weapon", hypersonic speeds generally 5 to mach 10, above that we start getting into orbital entry velocities. So unless this warhead is slowing down from its re-entry velocity of mach 20-30 to mach 10, this would be more approriately named a MARV (Manoeuvrable Re-entry Vehicle. Oh and sorry for the length Fred |
| Posted by:Valentine |
| #2 I don't mean to be critical, but IMO the Russians just need to improve their Deltas... they've always had this obession with multiple major projects going on.... Maybe it's an internal power thing. They've done this sort of constant improving in their space progam and it's proven to work... What mark of Soyuz are we on these days? It's the most dependable spacecraft on this planet and it's essential design hasn't changed since 1968. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-22 9:58:56 AM |
| #1 a new submarine eh, should be fun to watch the rescue effort. Like i said yesterday speed of light weaponry such as lasers, ABL and SBL or microwave beams would make short work of these new Russkie toys |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-2-22 4:32:38 AM |