nobody@Kodak.COM (Rick Lafford (x37825)) (12/09/90)
From: nobody@Kodak.COM (Rick Lafford (x37825)) Organization: Eastman Kodak Co. In regards to J. Taggart Gorman's note To my very limited knowledge there are two systems currently available to the forces in the Gulf for close in air defense against missiles. The first is the Patriot, which has a new multimode fuse system that is supposed to be very lethal against missiles. The second is the Oerlikon Aerospace/Martin Marietta ADATS system. This is based on several carrier chassis (M113 and Bradley) and is both AA and AT capable. It is also hardened agains the typical desert environment of heat and blowing sand. The ADATS system consists of eight ready-to-fire missiles, each carrying a 12 kg dual-purpose high exp. warhead. Fusing is either impact or electro-optical proximity depending on the gunner's pre-launch selection. The system is all-weather capable including smoke, haze and dust. The missile is either FLIR or infrared TV guided using a coded laser. The search and acquisition radar can ID aircraft up to 20 km away. Range against manuvering targets is 8 km with the missile moving at Mach 3. The missile is very accurate Because of the small size and integrated nature of the ADATS system, it has been considered for close in shipboard defense. I don't know if anything has become of this though. Re: Shipboard defense against incoming balistic missiles: Ships move plenty fast to avoid most ballistic missiles and usually do not have a defense. Conventional warheads would not be easy to target against ships. I don't know about the "Standards" capability in the ABM role. Anyone out there got an answer. Rick Lafford Eastman Kodak Co. lafford@serum.Kodak.Com Don't use my return address!!!!!!
jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW) (12/17/90)
From: jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW) Of trying to hit a carrier with a high-trajectory ballistic warhead: >How about some blue sky here: stick a GPS receiver in it -- so it knows >where it is; feed it a link from something like an AWACS or RORSAT that >knows where the ship is; add maneuverability (and stir till thick :-). >From childhood memories of watching incoming space capsules on TV, I recall that communication was cut off during re-entry. I think the things come in so hot and so fast that they make their own ionization screen. To prevent this you'd have to slow them down a lot, and there goes your advantage. A smart bomb built along the same principles, delivered by an extremely- high-altitude aircraft rather than a ballistic missile, might be more feasible. It also wouldn't have the potential for, ah, _misunderstandings_ that would be part and parcel of a ballistic missile launch in wartime. --Joe "Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"