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Hypersonic missiles are faster than cruise missiles but slower than ballistic missiles and confusing the two is a common mistake in the popular press when talki
by khuey 6y ago
Hypersonic missiles are faster than cruise missiles but slower than ballistic missiles and confusing the two is a common mistake in the popular press when talking about how fast hypersonic missiles are.
- willis936 6y agoIn terms of ground speed, yes, but in terms of flight time, no. ICBMs are also easily identified and tracked compared to low flying cruise missiles. Hypersonic weapons are essentially shorter range cruise missiles. How do you defend against these? The narrative is that as long as nuclear weapons are prolific, anything that sidesteps deterrence is a threat to the species.
- vladTheInhaler 6y agoThe good news is that this doesn't seem like it affects submarines significantly. So the defending nation should still have second-strike capability, making it unwise to initiate an attack.
- AstralStorm 6y agoSpeaking of, imagine someone sending a satellite full of "ICBM" to space, covertly enough. How do you identify what it is? It's even harder than finding submarines if there's enough "chaff" launches. Dead Hand is a toy in comparison. You have no chance to intercept as the delay is too short and speeds are orbital. Better hope your spies know which satellites are weapon platforms. Cruise missiles are already extremely hard to defend against, in as much as doing so requires the defender to identify all nearby ships, submarines, airplanes and other covert launch points. (ECM is not good enough, SAM also has no chance. Cannons and interceptors have low chance of spotting these as well.) Hypersonic version does not bring all that much to the table there, if anything.
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoMaybe by Anti-Neutrino detection?