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Silly clickbait title, but newsworthy all the same. This looks like the first instance of a successful ballistic missile interception in battle and not a test.

Silly clickbait title, but newsworthy all the same. This looks like the first instance of a successful ballistic missile interception in battle and not a test. I feel a chill because you never know what payload a ballistic missile is carrying until it reaches its target. Using them in war is a scary precedent.

standardUser 3y ago
I felt that same unease. It's very unlikely Yemeni rebels could get their hands on a nuclear device, and even more unlikely it would be small enough to launch on a rocket. But not impossible.
- 0xDEF 3y ago
  The country that gave the Houthis intermediate range ballistic missiles is also capable of developing pistol-type fission bombs if current estimates of the country's uranium enrichment capabilities are to be believed.
  - buildbot 3y ago
    Aren't pistol/gun types typically plutonium? I though 235 needed the fancy explosive lenses.
    - ridgeguy 3y ago
      No, U235 weapons can be the 'cannon' type. That was the type of bomb used on Hiroshima.
      - buildbot 3y ago
        Oops you are totally right. I got them switched!
etimberg 3y ago
Hasn't this been happening in Ukraine for some time?
- meepmorp 3y ago
  Those aren’t happening above the Kármán line. The Ukrainians don’t have anything capable of targeting an inbound weapon at that altitude.
  - etimberg 3y ago
    You're right, but I was more referring to this statement "This looks like the first instance of a successful ballistic missile interception in battle and not a test". The Ukrainians used a Patriot missile to shoot down at least one Russian ballistic missile in the spring. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/air-defence-systems-repelling-attacks-ukraine-early-tuesday-officials-2023-05-16/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/air-defence-systems-rep...
    - meepmorp 3y ago
      Ah, yeah, you're right.
elil17 3y ago
This is definitely not the first successful use of ABM against an adversary, just the first case where the interception was above the Karman line. There are many battle-tested ABM systems, such as THAAD (which targets missiles in their terminal phase). Even though this is a mid-course interception, it's critical that we contrast it with America's GMD (ground-based mid-coure defense). GMD is targeting ICBM payloads, which travel faster and are more likely to have countermeasures. GMD is still unproven for targets without homing beacons on realistic trajectories. Long and the short of it: this doesn't mean America could successfully intercept incoming nukes from North Korea.
kragen 3y ago
using guided ballistic missiles in war is indeed a scary precedent, but as the article explains, it is a precedent that was set 81 years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket and in particular iraq launched lots of guided ballistic missiles into israel in the first gulf war the newsworthy part is not the ballistic missile launch but the interception in space, where velocity is lowest but maneuvering is most difficult though to me the biggest news was that yemen's houthi rebels have ballistic missiles now

standardUser 3y ago

I felt that same unease. It's very unlikely Yemeni rebels could get their hands on a nuclear device, and even more unlikely it would be small enough to launch on a rocket. But not impossible.

0xDEF 3y ago
The country that gave the Houthis intermediate range ballistic missiles is also capable of developing pistol-type fission bombs if current estimates of the country's uranium enrichment capabilities are to be believed.
- buildbot 3y ago
  Aren't pistol/gun types typically plutonium? I though 235 needed the fancy explosive lenses.
  - ridgeguy 3y ago
    No, U235 weapons can be the 'cannon' type. That was the type of bomb used on Hiroshima.
    - buildbot 3y ago
      Oops you are totally right. I got them switched!

etimberg 3y ago

Hasn't this been happening in Ukraine for some time?

meepmorp 3y ago
Those aren’t happening above the Kármán line. The Ukrainians don’t have anything capable of targeting an inbound weapon at that altitude.
- etimberg 3y ago
  You're right, but I was more referring to this statement "This looks like the first instance of a successful ballistic missile interception in battle and not a test". The Ukrainians used a Patriot missile to shoot down at least one Russian ballistic missile in the spring. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/air-defence-systems-repelling-attacks-ukraine-early-tuesday-officials-2023-05-16/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/air-defence-systems-rep...
  - meepmorp 3y ago
    Ah, yeah, you're right.

elil17 3y ago

This is definitely not the first successful use of ABM against an adversary, just the first case where the interception was above the Karman line. There are many battle-tested ABM systems, such as THAAD (which targets missiles in their terminal phase). Even though this is a mid-course interception, it's critical that we contrast it with America's GMD (ground-based mid-coure defense). GMD is targeting ICBM payloads, which travel faster and are more likely to have countermeasures. GMD is still unproven for targets without homing beacons on realistic trajectories. Long and the short of it: this doesn't mean America could successfully intercept incoming nukes from North Korea.

kragen 3y ago

using guided ballistic missiles in war is indeed a scary precedent, but as the article explains, it is a precedent that was set 81 years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket and in particular iraq launched lots of guided ballistic missiles into israel in the first gulf war the newsworthy part is not the ballistic missile launch but the interception in space, where velocity is lowest but maneuvering is most difficult though to me the biggest news was that yemen's houthi rebels have ballistic missiles now