Are orbital weapons real?

As of September 2017, there are no known operative orbital weapons systems, but several nations have deployed orbital surveillance networks to observe other nations or armed forces. Several orbital weaponry systems were designed by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Are orbital strike real?

A kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile from orbit (orbital bombardment), where the destructive power comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high speeds. The concept originated during the Cold War.

What is the rod of God?

The “rods from god” idea was a bundle of telephone-pole-size (20 feet long, 1 foot in diameter) tungsten rods, dropped from orbit, reaching a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound. The rod itself would penetrate hundreds of feet into the Earth, destroying any potential hardened bunkers or secret underground sites.

Are there kinetic weapons in space?

Space-to-space kinetic weapons include debris-creating, co-orbital ASAT weapons which may directly crash into a target satellite (damaging it or pushing it out of its orbit) or even explode near the target satellite.

How much does a rod from God weigh?

With 20 cubic feet of dense tungsten weighing in at just over 24,000 pounds, the math is easy. Just one of the rods would be prohibitively expensive. The cost of $230 million a rod was unimaginable during the Cold War.

What is an orbital kinetic bombardment weapon?

The orbital kinetic bombardment system is used first to destroy the Soviet tank armies that have invaded Europe and then to take out Soviet ICBM silos prior to a nuclear strike. In Neal Stephenson ‘s Anathem a kinetic bombardment weapon is deployed from orbit to trigger the eruption of a dormant volcano .

How do kinetic energy weapons work?

Whether dropped from the sky or fired from a cannon, the principle behind these weapons is the same: hitting the enemy with something very hard and very dense, moving very fast. And the kinetic energy projectile may become a staple of modern warfare sooner than you might think.

What is an example of a kinetic weapon in science fiction?

In Neal Stephenson’s Anathem a kinetic bombardment weapon is deployed from orbit to trigger the eruption of a dormant volcano. From the mid-1990s, kinetic weapons as science fiction plot devices appeared in video games.

What are the advantages of a kinetic energy rod warhead?

The two primary advantages of a kinetic energy rod warhead is that 2) it provides better penetration then blast fragmentation type warheads. A 6.1 meter × 0.3 meter tungsten cylinder impacting at Mach 10 has a kinetic energy equivalent to approximately 11.5 tons of TNT (or 7.2 tons of dynamite).