Kinetic bombardment
A kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert
Typical depictions of the tactic are of a
The kinetic bombardment has the advantage of being able to deliver projectiles from a very high angle at a very high speed, making them extremely difficult to defend against. In addition, projectiles would not require explosive warheads, and—in the simplest designs—would consist entirely of solid metal rods, giving rise to the common nickname "rods from God".[2] Disadvantages include the technical difficulties of ensuring accuracy and the high costs of positioning ammunition in orbit.
Real life concepts and theories
Predecessors and early concepts
During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, there was limited use of the Lazy Dog bomb, a kinetic projectile shaped like a conventional bomb but only about 1.75-inch-long (44 mm) and 0.50-inch-diameter (13 mm). A piece of sheet metal was folded to make the fins and welded to the rear of the projectile. These were dumped from aircraft onto enemy troops and had the same effect as a machine gun fired vertically.[3][self-published source?][4][self-published source?] Similar flechette projectiles have been used since the first World War.[5]
In the 1980s, another kinetic swarm system was conceptualized as a potential part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, there codenamed Brilliant Pebbles.[6][7]
Project Thor was an idea for a weapons system that launches telephone pole-sized kinetic projectiles made from tungsten from Earth's orbit to damage targets on the ground. Jerry Pournelle created the concept while working in operations research at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a science-fiction writer.[8][9]
2003 United States Air Force proposal
A system described in the 2003 United States Air Force report called Hypervelocity Rod Bundles[10] was that of 20-foot-long (6.1 m), 1-foot-diameter (0.30 m) tungsten rods that are satellite-controlled and have global strike capability, with impact speeds of Mach 10.[11][12][13]
The bomb would naturally contain large kinetic energy because it moves at
In the case of the system mentioned in the 2003 Air Force report above, a 6.1 by 0.3 metres (20 ft × 1 ft) tungsten cylinder impacting at Mach 10 (11,200 ft/s; 3,400 m/s) has kinetic energy equivalent to approximately 11.5
The highly elongated shape and high mass of the projectiles are intended to enhance sectional density (and therefore minimize kinetic energy loss due to air friction) and maximize penetration of hard or buried targets. The larger device is expected to be quite effective at penetrating deeply buried bunkers and other command and control targets.[19]
The weapon would be very hard to defend against. It has a very high closing velocity and a small radar cross-section. The launch is difficult to detect. Any infrared launch signature occurs in orbit, at no fixed position. The infrared launch signature also has a much smaller magnitude compared to a ballistic missile launch. The system would also have to cope with atmospheric heating from re-entry, which could melt non-tungsten components of the weapon.[20]
The phrase "rods from God" is also used to describe the same concept.[21] An Air Force report called them "hypervelocity rod bundles".[2]
In science fiction
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2016) |
In the mid-1960s, popular science interest in orbital mechanics led to a number of science fiction stories that explored their implications. Among these was The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein, in which the citizens of the Moon bombard the Earth with rocks wrapped in iron containers which are in turn fired from an electromagnetic launch system at Earth-based targets.(see Steve Thon)
In the 1970s and 1980s, this idea was refined in science fiction novels such as
In
In Neal Stephenson's Anathem, a kinetic bombardment weapon is deployed from orbit to trigger the eruption of a dormant volcano.
In Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, kinetic energy weapons play a wide role in the largely physics-based space combat between the Humans and the Taurans, with most engagements having closing speeds at or above the speed of light. In one engagement, a missile the size of a grain of sand, with no explosive potential itself, wreaks extensive havoc on a human ship during a head-on pass by the Taurans. In another battle, by using an extremely high closing speed, a small fighter is able to use a small autocannon to create devastating effects.
The repurposing of space colonies for use in kinetic bombardment (referred to as a "colony drop") is a frequent element of the Gundam franchise and is central to the plots of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, while a more limited bombardment is key to the climax of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.
From the mid-1990s, kinetic weapons as science fiction plot devices appeared in video games. Appearing in Syndicate Wars as a player-usable weapon, it also featured prominently in the plots of other video games, such as Tom Clancy's EndWar, Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Halo.
The 2001 video game Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies features Megalith, a fictional missile system that utilized intercontinental ballistic missiles to alter the trajectory of fragments of an asteroid in orbit, deflecting them on paths that would take them towards populated areas and strategic targets. The final mission in the game involves Mobius 1 and the ISAF launching an all-out attack on Megalith and the forces defending it to deactivate it, bringing about an end to the Intercontinental War.
Halo features the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (MAC), or Mass Accelerator Cannon, as the primary weapon system employed by the
The film G.I. Joe: Retaliation depicts the destruction of Central London with a tungsten rod dropped from a satellite system.
Orion's Arm features them as a major weapon type in the galaxy of 10,000 years in the future, where they can be used on planets at speeds up to 99.9% that of light, typically sterilizing a large portion of the target world. They are referred to as Relativistic Kinetic Kill Systems, or RKKS (pronounced "rocks").
In "The Negotiator" thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth, a fictional anti-tank kinetic gun named Goshawk is mentioned.
See also
- Concrete bomb
- Kinetic energy penetrator
- Cobalt bomb
- Prompt Global Strike
- Railgun
- Boeing X-37
- Brilliant Pebbles
- Flechette
- Fractional Orbital Bombardment System
References
- ISBN 978-0-387-40213-0.; - the word "brake" in this paragraph refers to the act of braking; the fact that by slowing the rod's orbital trajectory, the satellite can de-orbit it in order to drop it onto the planet below.
- ^ a b Eric Adams (June 2004). "Rods from God". Popular Science. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-4917-5228-9.
- ]
- ^ "WWI Flechettes - the troop piercing arrows dropped from planes onto German trenches". 3 March 2018.
- ^ Claremont Institute. Brilliant Pebbles Archived October 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 11, 2006.
- ^ The Heritage Foundation. Brilliant Pebbles Archived March 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 11, 2006.
- ^ Jonathan Shainin (10 December 2006). "Rods From God". The New York Times.
- ^ Jerry Pournelle (6 March 2006). "Chaos Manor Mail". The View from Chaos Manor. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008.
- ^ "2003 U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan". 31 October 2003.
- ^ Giuseppe Anzera (18 August 2005). "Star Wars: Empires strike back". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b John Arquilla (12 March 2006). "RODS FROM GOD / Imagine a bundle of telephone poles hurtling through space at 7,000 mph". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
[Such] bundles of metal are not specifically disallowed by the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which explicitly prohibits only deploying nuclear weapons in space. The rods, however, would violate the spirit of the more general Outer Space Treaty.
- ^ a b Julian Borger (19 May 2005). "Bush likely to back weapons in space". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ Jack Kelly (28 July 2003). "Rods from God". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A5.
- ^ "US Air Force Transformation Flight Plan" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- JSTOR 10.7249/mr1209af.11.
- S2CID 57559513.
- ^ "Popular Science". June 2004.
- ^
"Space Wars". HISTORY. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ Noah Shachtman (20 February 2004). "Pentagon Preps for War in Space". Wired. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ Michael Goldfarb (8 June 2005). "The Rods from God". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on June 15, 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
- ^ Game Designers Workshop, Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society No. 9, 1981
- ISBN 978-0-7653-1569-4.
- ISBN 978-0756675929.
- ISBN 978-1681196633.
Further reading
- Space Weapons, Earth Wars, RAND Corporation, 2002, ISBN 0-8330-2937-1
External links
- "Rods from God". weeklystandard.com.
- "Rods from God". Popular Science. June 2004.
- Richard L. Garwin (14 May 2003). "Space Weapons, Not Yet" (PDF).