keithl (12/20/82)
Regarding Ron Meyer's Densepack questions:
The stated reason (?) the US and the USSR have strategic nuclear weapons is
for a retaliatory response to a first strike. To make sure there are a few
weapons left to strike back with, a lot of weapons are needed to start with.
Lots of weapons targeted at one place makes it more likely that at least one
will get through.
Fratricide doesn't require the destruction of the incoming warheads; the
turbulence associated with the first blast (which lasts for hours) deflects
the next warheads sufficiently that they won't hit the silos they are aimed at.
With 5000 to 20,000 psi hardened silos, incoming warheads needn't be deflected
much to be ineffective. The turbulence also prevents launching the MXs; the
missiles could be "pinned down" if the USSR delivered warheads regularly
enough, a difficult scheduling proposition if Soviet missile silos are also
being hit.
The MX densepack seems able to do what it is designed to do. Personally,
I think what it is designed to do (kill Russians in retaliation for attacking
the US) is insane. I would rather see the money spent on orbital interceptors,
civil defense, population relocation, and target hardening, not anticipatory
revenge.
Keith Lofstrom
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P.S. Now that I have had MY say (I state arrogantly) let's move this over to
net.politics and call each other bad names. Net.physics is about why the
bombs work, not how they are used...