3 ms·
It could be powerful against non peer adversaries. There are only a few countries that track ballistic launches, and with luck they would be delayed relaying th
by generj 4y ago
It could be powerful against non peer adversaries. There are only a few countries that track ballistic launches, and with luck they would be delayed relaying the information to whatever useful fool of theirs the US military is invading until after SpaceForce Starship lands.
But, to attack my point, the utility is very limited - essentially for special ops insertion an hour or so before all the conventional forces show up. A very expensive paratrooper insertion with the possibility of a one way trip.
Even then the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers banging the door down are probably too vulnerable to SAM during the last phase of flight. I guess the hope would be that operators would ignore or be confused by a massive radar blip traveling at high speed before the suicidal burn?
The more realistic case for Starship is shipping lots and lots of military tonnage to orbit. Rods from God are achievable if Starship reuse pans out, and those are truly perfect hour zero weapons before the stealth planes show up.