Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!lethe!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: cliffw%sequent.uucp@RELAY.CS.NET (Cliff White) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Anti-Balistic Missiles Now Message-ID: <1990Dec22.033054.22383@cbnews.att.com> Date: 22 Dec 90 03:30:54 GMT References: <1990Dec7.011307.474@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc Lines: 44 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Cliff White In article <1990Dec7.011307.474@cbnews.att.com> jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) writes: % % %From: "J. Taggart Gorman" % With the potential threat of Iraq lobbing Scuds with chemical and %biological warheads all over the Middle East, I was wondering what currently %fielded weapons (defenses, take your pick) could shoot down an incoming %warhead. I am talking battlefield systems here. To rephrase the question: As i recall, one of the reasons for accepting the ABM Treaty was the difficulty of successfully intercepting a warhead in the terminal part of the trajectory due to the high speeds and small targets involved. The Air Force's Sprint system was nuclear tipped for this reason (not a real practical system) Is there a more recent, practical solution to this problem? %Israelis occasionly rattle their saber with their tests of their ABM, but %what else is there to do this job? %If not, how does a carrier battle group defend itself from incoming warheads? % Answers, anyone? a couple more questions how would the trajectory/speed of a IRBM compare with an ICBM? (i'm talking over their respective normal ranges, of course) -in the Gulf, is it possible for the US to 'see' the lanch of a hypothetical Iraqi missle? Would it help any if they could? % %| John Taggart Gorman Jr. | "I'm a no rust build up man myself." %| | -Christian Slater %| jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu | in 'Heathers' cliffw -- cliffw 'If we can't fix it- we'll fix it so nobody can'- B. Gibbons