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| Science & Technology |
| Is Space Sensor Layer the Pentagon’s next major space program? |
| 2018-10-15 |
| [SpaceNews] Defense officials have been sounding alarms about what they describe as a glaring national security vulnerability — a new class of ultrafast weapons being developed by China and Russia that would overpower U.S. missile defenses. Detecting and tracking hypersonic missiles is a tough problem the Pentagon is trying to figure out how to tackle. A network of ground radars, satellites and interceptors defends the United States and allies from ballistic missiles from countries such as North Korea. But the system would be ineffective against non-ballistic weapons like hypersonic vehicles that fly at several times the speed of sound and maneuver in unpredictable directions. The current ballistic missile defense shield is a layered architecture designed to provide multiple opportunities to destroy missiles and their warheads before they can reach their targets. The system includes space- and ground-based sensors, and sea-based radars for target detection and tracking. Ground- and sea-based interceptors, connected by a battle-management network, are positioned in key locations around the globe to fire against incoming missiles. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #3 Detecting and tracking hypersonic missiles is a tough problem the Pentagon is trying to figure out how to tackle. Really? Heat... They may be, possibly, able to mitigate the radar spectrum using stealth features, but this thing will be incandescently hot as it plows through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. It will also leave a hot contrail in its wake. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-10-15 14:31 |
| #2 — a new class of ultrafast weapons being developed by China and Russia that would overpower U.S. missile defenses Only need defense against a rouge outfit. The best defense against Russia and China is someone in the office who'll use the 'football' and them actually believing it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-10-15 07:27 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Thregum Greath3827 2018-10-15 06:47 |