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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Chinese Acts of War |
| 2006-09-26 |
| September 26, 2006: The U.S. has revealed that China's developed a powerful, land based laser, that has been fired at American satellites. This has apparently been going on for three years. In theory, a land based laser of sufficient power could damage some types of low orbit photo and radar satellites. No details on the effects of the laser attacks were given, as this would inform the Chinese as to how well, or not well, they were doing. The Chinese may have lasered some of their own satellites, as part of what is apparently a development project. It's long been believed that interceptors (small satellites that can maneuver) would be a better way to take down enemy birds. Electronic jamming can also be used to interfere with communications with a satellite. A laser is also limited to satellites that pass nearby. Moreover, satellites can be modified to make them more difficult for lasers to damage. It is believed the Chinese project is a result of China realizing that a major American vulnerability is its large satellite network. Thus any damage to U.S. satellites would have a larger payoff than if the money were spent on more conventional defense investments. |
| Posted by:DanNY |
| #28 vely lacist lemalks |
| Posted by: Clavise Clineling3183 2006-09-26 23:53 |
| #27 How about we drop a GPS guided bird dropping right on the eye of the laser? |
| Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 2006-09-26 23:41 |
| #26 ok - originally thought it was a typo - then got it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-26 22:58 |
| #25 We need to field a satellite with a huge supercooled retroflector plus it's own chemical laser beam line. When China's laser powers up, our bird directly reflects their shot back into the originating beam line and we pump a few extra gigawatts down line as well. Can you say "Exproding rasel base"? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-26 22:37 |
| #24 Unless they mount the jamming thingey on a satellite of their own. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2006-09-26 19:24 |
| #23 Hmm. Think it through re: GPS jammers. light up somethign strong enough to jam access to 5-12 visible GPS satellites, for long enough to affect any attack and wht do you have? A big assed homing beacon for HARMs. Gotta love them 3 words: Home On Jam. If I remember correctly though GPS jamming isn't very feasible because JDAMs and newer missile/bomb types are being made with features such as this or having other anti-jamming capabilities built in. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2006-09-26 17:47 |
| #22 Hmm. Think it through re: GPS jammers. light up somethign strong enough to jam access to 5-12 visible GPS satellites, for long enough to affect any attack and wht do you have? A big assed homing beacon for HARMs. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-09-26 16:40 |
| #21 Good point Vade. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2006-09-26 16:23 |
| #20 Two words: Lowest Bidder |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-09-26 15:42 |
| #19 would think only the oldest haven't been hardened |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-26 15:40 |
| #18 disabling or jamming our GPS satellites removes the pinpoint accuracy of our cruise missiles. An excellent missile defence for some of our systems. Now we are going to have to spend millions hardening our satellites. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-09-26 14:53 |
| #17 Mike, It would be embarassing to China if we announced it at a press conferance and then rolled on the floor laughing at China. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-09-26 13:26 |
| #16 Is it possible that this is the administrations way of letting China know that we know? Embarrassing them a bit in the process. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2006-09-26 12:51 |
| #15 I foresee a lot of space-deployed conventional weaponry. Moving on from "the rods from God", all sorts of specialized projectiles could cause massive damage. For example, several tons of grapefruit sized ceramic balls deployed from something akin to a cluster munition, could behave like a massive meteorite storm, destroying surface targets over many square miles. Even small bb-sized projectiles could be designed to wipe out all aircraft or a massive salvo of missiles, yet burn up before they hit the ground. Metallic dusts and abrasives could be used in a cloud to negate radar and broadcast communications and interfering with aircraft, staying in the atmosphere for hours or days. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-09-26 12:05 |
| #14 Someone watches MTV? You think they may be using some of the tech which Clinton gave them? OTOH I would hope that we do not rely solely on satellites. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-09-26 11:53 |
| #13 Pretty stupid of them if they are actually doing this. Provacative, and gives away their capabilities before they really need to. Now, we have an opportunity to harden our satellites against their weapon. Stupid communists. |
| Posted by: Leigh 2006-09-26 11:23 |
| #12 I like the idea of a "disabled" satellite hitting the headquarters of the Chicomarchy. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-09-26 10:45 |
| #11 :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-26 10:32 |
| #10 The Chinese may have lasered some of their own satellites, as part of what is apparently a development project. The Chinese are better at reverse engineering than they are at developing their own technology. They probably accidentally discovered this laser capability when trying to pirate NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. |
| Posted by: Vickerina 2006-09-26 10:18 |
| #9 If I don't get my MTV I'll be pissed..... Could be the post of the thread |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-09-26 10:11 |
| #8 I'll bet it costs more to rebuild that |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-09-26 09:58 |
| #7 If I don't get my MTV I'll be pissed..... Can you imagine the reaction if told the Chicoms are messing w/America's TV? |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-09-26 09:49 |
| #6 Why the **** do we not respond to this stuff? If we did, would you want to issue a press release, too? It's not like we'd go to war over it, though I'd use it as a pretext to kick China out of the WTO. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-09-26 09:49 |
| #5 We could just have a satellite "fall" out of orbit after being hit and land on Beijing. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-09-26 09:48 |
| #4 I'll bet it costs more to rebuild that laser than it does to put another satellite in orbit. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-09-26 09:30 |
| #3 Why the **** do we not respond to this stuff? At the very least cruise missile the laser facility. Shoot down some of their satellites. Better yet, sink that crappy SSBN the next time it leaves port. Just deny everything to their face and smile big doing it. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2006-09-26 09:23 |
| #2 Of course, commercial clients would include Iran, etc. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-09-26 09:07 |
| #1 Tests for the "no limits" warfare? |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-09-26 08:50 |