5 ms·
Not as an overt blanket capability statement, but e.g. LGM-30 is known to carry ASIP and rumoured to carry THAAD kill vehicles, both capable of intercepting dyn
by missosoup 7y ago
Not as an overt blanket capability statement, but e.g. LGM-30 is known to carry ASIP and rumoured to carry THAAD kill vehicles, both capable of intercepting dynamic orbital targets. LGM-30 climbs to 100km altitude before deploying the payload bus, which gives it ample range to hit GEO targets anywhere in the hemisphere.
Other thing I completely forgot to mention is that all existing global navigation constellations orbit at MEO, not GEO. Which puts them within speculative range of demonstrated ASAT weapons and allows for even longer reach from a launch vehicle like LGM-30.
https://www.mda.mil/news/11news0002.html https://www.mda.mil/news/11news0002.html
https://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/ekv https://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/ekv
- jessriedel 7y ago> LGM-30 climbs to 100km altitude before deploying the payload bus, which gives it ample range to hit GEO targets anywhere in the hemisphere. This doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain further? LGM-30 is a land-based ICBM designed to strike targets on the surface of the Earth, and hence to take a (just barely) sub-orbital trajectory <13,000 km from point-to-point, with maximum altitude a few hundred km. Wouldn't its thrust capability have to be drastically upgraded to reach 20,000km in altitude, where MEO satellites like GPS are?
- missosoup 7y agoIt takes about 0.6 tons of fuel to transfer from a 100km to a 20,000km orbit. Well within the payload limits of LGM-30. A derivative of the LGM-30, Minotaur, is used to launch satellites (or ordnance) directly to GTO @ ~30,000km.