As the name suggests, the 'bunker buster' is powerful enough to destroy a nuclear bunker. These designs are envisioned as a bunker buster. Some systems are quoted as having the yield of a small tactical nuclear bomb. As the rod reenters Earth's atmosphere it would lose most of its velocity, but the remaining energy would cause considerable damage. The bomb would naturally contain large kinetic energy because it moves at orbital velocities, around 8 kilometres per second (26,000 ft/s 8,000 m/s Mach 24) in orbit and 3 kilometres per second (9,800 ft/s 3,000 m/s Mach 8.8) at impact. 2003 United States Air Force proposal Ī system described in the 2003 United States Air Force report called Hypervelocity Rod Bundles was that of 20-foot-long (6.1 m), 1-foot-diameter (0.30 m) tungsten rods that are satellite-controlled and have global strike capability, with impact speeds of Mach 10. Jerry Pournelle created the concept while working in operations research at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a science-fiction writer. Project Thor was an idea for a weapons system that launches telephone pole-sized kinetic projectiles made from tungsten from Earth's orbit to damaging targets on the ground. In the 1980s, another kinetic swarm system was conceptualized as a potential part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, there codenamed Brilliant Pebbles.
Similar flechette projectiles have been used since the first World War. These were dumped from aircraft onto enemy troops and had the same effect as a machine gun fired vertically. A piece of sheet metal was folded to make the fins and welded to the rear of the projectile. Real life concepts and theories Predecessors and early concepts ĭuring the Korean and Vietnam Wars, there was limited use of the Lazy Dog bomb, a kinetic projectile shaped like a conventional bomb but only about 1.75-inch-long (44 mm) and 0.50-inch-diameter (13 mm).
Disadvantages include the technical difficulties of ensuring accuracy and the high costs of positioning ammunition in orbit. In addition, projectiles would not require explosive warheads, and-in the simplest designs-would consist entirely of solid metal rods, giving rise to the common nickname " rods from God". The kinetic bombardment has the advantage of being able to deliver projectiles from a very high angle at a very high speed, making them extremely difficult to defend against. The rods would typically be shaped to minimize air resistance and maximize velocity upon impact. When a strike is ordered, the launch vehicle brakes one of the rods out of its orbit and into a suborbital trajectory that intersects the target. Typical depictions of the tactic are of a satellite containing a magazine of tungsten rods and a directional thrust system. The concept originated during the Cold War. For the generic concept of attacking a planetary surface from orbit, see Orbital bombardment.Ī kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert kinetic projectile from orbit ( orbital bombardment), where the destructive power comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high speeds.
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