stefan@taupe.stanford.edu (Stefan Michalowski) (07/16/90)
From: stefan@taupe.stanford.edu (Stefan Michalowski) Can anyone point me in the direction of a reference or information relating to the systems aspects of delivering and dispersing chemical weapons via short-range ballistic missiles (e.g. Lance, Soviet SS-21 or Scud). The principal focus is to try to understand the incentives for using missiles to deliver CW reagents vis. advanced strike aircraft. Our guess is that aircraft make more sense for CW delivery against troops or, as instruments of terror, against population centers because of the difficulty of effective dispersal of CW from high-speed reentry vehicles. BTW, this is for a study at Stanford on the proliferation of ballistic missiles to the developing world. Thanks in advance. John Harvey Center for International Security and Arms Control Stanford University harvey@taupe.stanford.edu
sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) (07/17/90)
From: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) In article <1990Jul16.030942.5637@cbnews.att.com>, stefan@taupe.stanford.edu (Stefan Michalowski) writes: >Can anyone point me in the direction of a reference or information >relating to the systems aspects of delivering and dispersing chemical >weapons via short-range ballistic missiles (e.g. Lance, Soviet SS-21 or >Scud). The principal focus is to try to understand the incentives for >using missiles to deliver CW reagents vis. advanced strike aircraft. Our >guess is that aircraft make more sense for CW delivery against troops >or, as instruments of terror, against population centers because of the >difficulty of effective dispersal of CW from high-speed reentry vehicles. It depends on how sophisticated your warhead technology is (oops, this should be informational; no indexed references here, but I'm going on...). If you had something suitably sophisticated to burst at 500 feet above ground level, you could probably get a decent dispersal. Efficient, no, decent to cause harm, yes. Besides, early warning time and defense against RVs is minimal when you compare it to a modern aircraft. Maybe 20 minutes from the time you turn the key, and you have to fly your cargo into the target area without getting shot down.