deichman@cod.nosc.mil (Shane D. Deichman) (03/01/91)
From: deichman@cod.nosc.mil (Shane D. Deichman) >From: ucc1q@jetson.uh.edu (A JETSON News User) > When a scud would launch we locate > the launch site with radar systems, feed coordinates into the Pershing and > launch. This way the Patriots get the SCUDs and the Pershing get the >launchers. Would have been nice if the Pershing also had a thermal tracker. > The thermal signature left by a scud launch on the launch site would be > large. Would a Pershing II accomplish anything that a Lance missile couldn't? I don't have my references handy, but I believe the Lance has a range comparable to the Al-Hussein modified Scud. Of course, this is assuming you could even get a sufficient radar-lock to determine the launch site within a reasonable error. A more efficient approach is the one utilized by the Coalition forces -- the airborne Scud patrol. When the meteorolog- ical radar accompanying the Scud battery lights up to determine ballistic conditions, radar detectors on the air platforms point out the position of the battery, which is then prosecuted. This method has the advantage of target discrimination -- especially with regard to heat signatures. If an infrared seeker head were to be fitted to the allied missile, it's much more likely to detect and engage the hot ground where the mobile launcher was a few minutes prior than the transporter erector/launcher speeding off in the distance.... ----- On a side note, I was recently talking to a friend of mine who had spent a number of years in the Army. He said there was actually a SIX-star general in the U.S. Army at one time. Apparently, during the Mexican Campaigns, General Pershing (a three-star, then the highest rank in the U.S. -- four- and five-stars didn't come about until WWII) had a penchant for wearing his stars on both his collar and his epaulets. One particular photo made this appear as if he were wearing six stars! Enjoying this appearance, he maintained the practice. -shane p.s. A final note -- my friend asked me about the historical evolution of the "Field Marshal," and how it relates to various national command authorities in the past. Are there ever more than one in an army, like in Napoleonic times when a general was placed in command of a region as both a military and political leader? Could MacArthur be called a FM from his administrative authority over Japan following WWII? Thanx for the input.