USN ASAT/ABM test worked, first shot

[coolhand]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dead_satellite

And some people said it would never work "its like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet".

Kill Vehicle hit with a crossing shot something moving 20+ mach.

[G.]

So what's it REALLY mean?

Show of force?

Tech test of "Star Wars" tech?

Coverup of something else? (was it really OUR sat?)

Let's have some non-political fun!

[nrc]

Next up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Vlad. Were you using that? It looked like space junk to us."

[eiregosod]

Next up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Vlad. Were you using that? It looked like space junk to us."

keep paying $101 for oil and Vlad will build the capacity to create more space junk.

[KLang]

Show of force?

Tech test of "Star Wars" tech?


Both I think, plus it needed to be done. Although I suspect this isn't the first time we have done this. I'm skeptical they would have done this in so public a way withour a reasonable expectation of success.

Edit: Very cool that it worked. :thumbup:

[Methanolandbrats]

All the people living in cardboard boxes along the Gulf Coast probably feel a lot safer now :thumbup:

[Sean Malone]

So what's it REALLY mean?

Show of force?


Let's have some non-political fun!

China shot one down last year. We had to show them we can do it too.

[chop456]

China shot one down last year. We had to show them we can do it too.

ASATs were generally given low priority until 1982, when information about a successful USSR program became widely known in the west. A "crash program" followed, which developed into the Vought ASM-135 ASAT, based on the AGM-69 SRAM with an Altair upper stage. The system was carried on a modified F-15 that carried the missile directly under the central line of the plane. The F-15's guidance system was modified for the mission and provided new directional cueing through the pilot's heads up display, and allowed for mid-course updates via a data link. The first launch of the new anti-satellite missile took place in January 1984. The first, and only, successful interception was on September 13, 1985. The F-15 took off from Edwards Air Force Base, climbed to 80,000 feet and vertically launched the missile at the Solwind P78-1, a US gamma ray spectroscopy satellite orbiting at 555 km, which was launched in 1979.[4] Although successful, the program was cancelled in 1988.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon

[Sean Malone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon

Have we done a land based missile before yesterday?

Ah, international relations.


"China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.

"China further requests that the United States ... promptly provide to the international community the necessary information ... so that relevant countries can take precautions."

In January 2007, China used a land-based missile to destroy a 2,200-pound satellite that was orbiting 528 miles above the Earth. The impact left more than 100,000 pieces of debris orbiting the planet, NASA estimated -- 2,600 of them more than 4 inches across. The U.S. agency called the breakup of the Fengyun-C satellite the worst in history.

[Insomniac]

China shot one down last year. We had to show them we can do it too.

They did something a little different though, right? They took out a satellite that was orbiting earth. I'd kind of equate ours to hitting a meteor heading for earth as opposed to hitting an asteroid that's passing by.

We did show that the U.S. can quickly modify missiles intended to be part of the missile defense shield into one that can take out a satellite though.

[Ankf00]

that missile had hit smaller test targets in the past, won't really be of any ASAT use b/c of the altitude, but a successful test none the less

[Ankf00]

1q47wpXrhTs

[KLang]

Pretty good explosion at impact. :thumbup:

[coolhand]

China shot one down last year. We had to show them we can do it too.

China's was a modified DF-31 ICBM with a proximity kill warhead, no where near as impressive as this.

This was done by a mobile ship platform and with HTK technology.

Plus the Chinese ASAT test left a huge debris field because the SAT was not in a decaying orbit. They trashed up space big time. In classical thinking that should be an act of war, it is like mining the ocean and denying others the right to use it.

http://www.celestrak.com/events/asat.asp

They bungled it politically, and technically. The Bandits and Beijing should feel humiliated right now. This means that the USN can counter their TBM shots at Japan, Guam etc..

[Wally]

I'd say this kind of one up's Putin's fly overs heh? :laugh:......GO NAVY..:thumbup:

[Gnam]

...GO NAVY..:thumbup:
Yes. This will give them a new mission and help justifiy their budget requests.

Finally, we can start shootin' down those pesky UFOs. :p

[Ankf00]

This means that the USN can counter their TBM shots at Japan

won't be a need, Japan's already gearing up domestic PAC-3 production, and Seoul has enough PAC batteries to last a world war. Taiwan's all that's left

[coolhand]

won't be a need, Japan's already gearing up domestic PAC-3 production, and Seoul has enough PAC batteries to last a world war. Taiwan's all that's left

True, but I can see this being useful further down the Island Chain. I don't know the extent of their PAC-3 deployments. I know they had them around city centers and I guess air bases too.

Well, the more the merrier! :thumbup:

[nissan gtp]

needs more rail gun

http://www.dcmilitary.com/images/waterline021408_photos/7981_512.jpg

linkage (http://www.dcmilitary.com/stories/021408/waterline_28153.shtml)

[Ankf00]

True, but I can see this being useful further down the Island Chain. I don't know the extent of their PAC-3 deployments. I know they had them around city centers and I guess air bases too.

Well, the more the merrier! :thumbup:

main production to date's been for germany, middle east, and korea. japan contract was finally finalized, the US has produced some for them, but now they'll be making their own at a greater pace than before.

between the new PAC-3 MSE, and the SM3 block II, much new range/higher ceiling being introduced in the near future