China tests MIRV technology

[RblDiver]

Great, just bloody great. http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...iple-warheads/

(I was surprised to learn our Minuteman missiles no longer are MIRV-capable)

[RMAC757]

Great, just bloody great. http://freebeacon.com/national-secur...iple-warheads/

(I was surprised to learn our Minuteman missiles no longer are MIRV-capable)

I think it's because our subs are so capable. They are the tip of our nuclear triad.

[Aloha_Shooter]

MIRV capability was negotiated away because the liberals diplomats felt their friends the Soviets couldn't do it as well as us it was a destabilizing technology.

[HoneyBadger]

I think it's because our subs are so capable. They are the tip of our nuclear triad.

Yes

MIRV capability was negotiated away because the liberals diplomats felt their friends the Soviets couldn't do it as well as us it was a destabilizing technology.

and Yes.


Honestly, I'm not too concerned. The US and soviets have been doing that for 30+ years. It gives China a nuclear bargaining chip, but it's not significantly better than what they previously had. I'm also not too concerned because of the direction defense technology is going: we are focusing a lot of resources on "shooting down" ICBMs before they would lose their payload faring and separate the multiple re-entry vehicles - which easily counters MIRV capabilities.

[SRG720]

Yes, that's right.. Shooting down ICBMs before the MIRVs separate. Curious I am, how close would these shoot down capabilities have to be to accomplish this? Say the black sea, Romania, Poland for example????

[Circuits]

I was surprised to learn our Minuteman missiles no longer are MIRV-capable)

They're still "capable" - just not loaded as such thanks to START II (technically, the Russian Duma never ratified it, so we don't really have to abide by it....).

SLBM is the pointy tip of the US nuclear triad. We still -sorta- have land ICBMS and aerial bombs, I guess. And them cruise missile things.

[HoneyBadger]

Yes, that's right.. Shooting down ICBMs before the MIRVs separate. Curious I am, how close would these shoot down capabilities have to be to accomplish this? Say the black sea, Romania, Poland for example????

Black sea, Romania, and Poland would do little to defend the Continental United States against a Chinese ICBM. The ICBM would travel over the Arctic and approach the US from the North, as this is the shortest distance from China to the US, especially since their targets are probably centralized on the East Coast (DC area).

That being said, there are several different means of missile defense in all three phases of flight (launch, midcourse, and re-entry). There aren't a lot of unclassified details (for good reason) but wikipedia is full of interesting programs and technologies.
Here's a good starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-...course_Defense

Also, it's worth noting that China has been working on MIRV tech since 1983 and has demonstrated MIRV tech as early as 2008, so this isn't really a first:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-31

They're still "capable" - just not loaded as such thanks to START II (technically, the Russian Duma never ratified it, so we don't really have to abide by it....).

SLBM is the pointy tip of the US nuclear triad. We still -sorta- have land ICBMS and aerial bombs, I guess. And them cruise missile things.

There is no "sorta" about it: We have 450 Minuteman-IIIs in tubes spread across Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana, and our B-52s are just as capable as they've ever been. We also have B1s and B2s that can carry nukes, as well as an assortment of nuclear-armed cruise missiles and other air launched nuclear armnament that can be carried by planes as small as an F-16. We have lots of nuclear options. SLBMs, ICBMs and B-52s are just a few pieces of the puzzle.

An awesome side-note: Our Trident 2 SLBMs can carry up to 14 warheads (475kt each!), but currently, I believe they only carry 8 to comply with a treaty that was never ratified.

[SRG720]

So why is the US placing ABM systems in e Europe?

Why on earth would China attack the us being completely outgunned? That makes no sense.

As far as the trident 2 goes.. I think ploughshares has a report on them currently outfitted with 4-5 warhead combos. As far as 14 warheads.. I think you mean the smaller, lighter 100kt w76 and not the bigger w88

[HoneyBadger]

So why is the US placing ABM systems in Europe? Those are posturing to protect "the west" (Europe) against SRBMs and MRBMs from Russia. Mostly just poking Putin in the eye.

Why on earth would China attack the us being completely outgunned? That makes no sense. They wouldn't. Another reason why I'm not worried about them testing MIRV tech.

As far as the trident 2 goes.. I think ploughshares has a report on them currently outfitted with 4-5 warhead combos. As far as 14 warheads.. I think you mean the smaller, lighter 100kt w76 and not the bigger w88. I took that info about the Trident 2 straight from Wikipedia. Wikipedia has been wrong before, but generally it's pretty accurate.

[SRG720]

OK because I'm just assuming a smaller yield 100 kt warhead aka w76 would be smaller and much lighter than a warhead like the w88 at 475kt. Also, I think the payload of the missile to the range of the missile is also an important factor. Ie the heavier the payload the lesser the maximum range.