World Affairs Board - View Single Post - TOPOL-M invincible?

HistoricalDavid · 06-05-2006, 11:14 AM

To build an ABM system capable of really defending against the Russians would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment. You'd have to return to Cold War levels of national militarisation.

They simply have too many missiles, Topol-M or not.

As for the Topol-M itself, I would take it with a pinch of salt. Anything going Mach 20 so high up in the atmosphere is going to have a turning circle the size of Whoopi Goldberg. Depending on its axis of attack, if it has one warhead, two or three would probably be successfully intercepted. If it's MIRVed with up to six, probably not.

Building an ABM system capable of reliably defending against hundreds of missiles is simply going to be too expensive.

The best defence still remains nuclear retaliation, in which the United States's advantage grows practically every day.

http://www.nukestrat.com/russia/subpatrols.htm
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...stockpiles.png

06-05-2006, 11:14 AM	#2 (permalink)
HistoricalDavid Distant Deeps or Skies *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 07-19-05 Location: North London, UK Posts: 2,100 Country:	To build an ABM system capable of really defending against the Russians would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment. You'd have to return to Cold War levels of national militarisation. They simply have too many missiles, Topol-M or not. As for the Topol-M itself, I would take it with a pinch of salt. Anything going Mach 20 so high up in the atmosphere is going to have a turning circle the size of Whoopi Goldberg. Depending on its axis of attack, if it has one warhead, two or three would probably be successfully intercepted. If it's MIRVed with up to six, probably not. Building an ABM system capable of reliably defending against hundreds of missiles is simply going to be too expensive. The best defence still remains nuclear retaliation, in which the United States's advantage grows practically every day. http://www.nukestrat.com/russia/subpatrols.htm http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...stockpiles.png Last edited by HistoricalDavid : 06-05-2006 at 11:20 AM.