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From: prentice%triton.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (John Prentice)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Pegasus
Message-ID: <1991Apr23.054114.24649@amd.com>
Date: 22 Apr 91 11:40:13 GMT
References: <1991Apr17.055545.13756@amd.com> <1991Apr18.032927.22679@amd.com> <1991Apr22.072403.26403@amd.com>
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From: prentice%triton.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (John Prentice)


ke4zv!gary@gatech.edu (Gary Coffman) writes:
>This all sounds more like Pegasus and litesat proponents looking for
>a mission rather than an actual operational niche that needs to be filled.

I think you have good and valid points.  I really think the value of a
Pegasus launched surveillance satellite is for quick response strategic
intelligence, not tactical.  If what I want to see is massing of troops
on a border for example, then being able to put up a satellite in a
few hours might be a real advantage over having to maneuver a big one.
Opinions?

As far as tactial surveillance, I read the other day that Schwarzkopf
was not satisfied with satellite surveillance during the war.  He
apparently asked for and was denied SR-71 overflights.  So they ended
up using tactial aircraft for this purpose, something they are not
really designed for or that good at (not to mention being vulnerable).
His objections included the satellites not being there when he needed
them and not being good at seeing through clouds (as I recall the
article).  I don't see how Pegasus launched satellites would solve
any of the problems Schwarzkopf mentioned.  I got the impression that
Schwarzkopf would agree with Gary on this one.

	[Where possible its nice to mention where one might have
	 read something so that people interested in details can
	 dig further.  I understand that's not always possible. --CDR]

-- 
John K. Prentice    john@unmfys.unm.edu (Internet)
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Computational Physics Group, Amparo Corporation, Albuquerque, NM, USA