Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: brooksp@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Peter Brooks) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Re: SCUD Intercepted! Message-ID: <1991Feb5.042734.5792@cbnews.att.com> Date: 5 Feb 91 04:27:34 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 20 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Peter Brooks >>From: Nick Szabo >>(1) Can the Patriot be used against ICBMs? How close is the Patriot >> to violating the ABM Treaty? > >It should be possible to intercept an ICBM with a Patriot, if the Patriot >is in *precisely* the right place. > I was reading somewhere (Aviation Leak?) that an ICBM reenters at about Mach 28. Since the Patriot is a Mach 3 missle, the chances of a successful intercept are slim at best. They specifically stated that the Patriot was not intended for ICBMs, but for tactical ballistic missles and the odd aircraft. >From my (foggy) memory of the ABM treaty, the US was allowed to deploy 1 bank of missles. We had developed the Sprint for the purpose, but we never used the opportunity to deploy. Pete Brooks