US ICBM reentry vehicles questions

[Shadowsided]

^^^I was speaking of a nuclear tipped interceptor frying your own radar.

Does anyone know how far you can spread out the MIRV's????

[avon1944]

RE: Its EMP

their electronics won't get scrambled by the EM pulse generated by a nearby nuclear detonation

Circuits designed to withstand severe EM pulses are listed as "Radiation Hardened" (Rad Hard). Being a transistor turns into a three way short circuit when bombarded by EM pulses. Materials such as thin film resistors, etc. are needed in any path between a positive and negative power leads to prevent a short circuit. The power supply must be protected at all cost. Circuit damage to transistors is momentary when bombarded with EM pulses.
Vacuum tubes are 10,000 times more resistant to EM pulses than transistors. The main reason the MiG.-25 dispite its design in the sixties still used vacuum tubes was because they made the circuits Rad Hard. The USAF laughed at how primative the MiG.-25 was until they realized why vacuum tubes were used. Using vacuum tubes was cheaper weight or cost than purchasing Rad Hard circuits.

What about a nuclear explosion nearby???

A near miss may not be effective against harden sites such as a command post or missile silos designed to withstand a nuclear blast.

relatively small yields like 5kt(hiroshima)

Actually, the Hiroshima bomb had a yield of 20Kt.

Nuclear tipped interceptors? I think you mean nuclear tipped missiles, or basically the Genie

The reason the NORAD and the PVO desired nuclear tiped interceptor missiles is because a bomber could arm its nuclear weapon and when the bomber was shot down the nuclear weapon would detonate after it fell to the designated altitude. A nuclear warhead on the intercepting missile would fry the weapon and the bomber.

Adrian

[gunnut]

im speaking of relatively small yields like 5kt(hiroshima). I know there are disadvantages to nuclear interecptors which can blind your radars.

I think Hiroshima bomb was 15kt. Nagasaki was 20kt.

Genie was 1.5kt. I think there was a version of Talos, maybe even Standard, with nuclear tip. And they are guided.

[hello]

Thanks guys that probabaly explains why the Us doesn't use nuclear tipped interceptors anymore.

Nuclear tipped interceptors? I think you mean nuclear tipped missiles, or basically the Genie and maybe a variant of the AIM-4 Falcon(This is the Military Aviation Forum of WAB). A Genie could potentially destroy a whole bomber formation with it's nuclear blast radius when it was fielded first on the F-101, 102 and 106 century fighters. I think it was replaced by gun pods for more thna just this reason. They may be:

1. Experience over Vietnam with no cannons.
2. Bombers stopped flying in formations, and missiles never did.
3. Nuclear hardening.
4. The fact that the Genie had only a 1.5kt yield warhead.
5. The Genie was unguided, so it couldn't hit cruise missiles or ICBMs.

The most effective way to stop an ICBM, IMO, is the ABL-1 Airborne Laser. It seems pretty effective so far, or at least the theory.

[Shadowsided]

Thanks guys that probabaly explains why the Us doesn't use nuclear tipped interceptors anymore. Some Russian sams can be nuclear tipped (5kt) so they should be able to stop survive. I mean the hiroshima explosion didn't cover the whole city. This is proabably why hit to kill technology is needed.

[canoe]

im speaking of relatively small yields like 5kt(hiroshima). I know there are disadvantages to nuclear interecptors which can blind your radars.

I'd imagine it'd be able to survive pretty close to a 5kt release. The trigger and critical electronic systems are shielded and hardend. I'd assume as long as the casing survives the initial blast the warhead would still retain a high chance of remaining operational. They were designed that way to prevent them from duding each other during a major nuclear exchange.

[Shadowsided]

im speaking of relatively small yields like 5kt(hiroshima). I know there are disadvantages to nuclear interecptors which can blind your radars.

[gunnut]

Depends on how close.

A nuclear explosion generates 3 things: EM pulse, thermal radiation, shock wave.

Anytime you see something that's harden against nukes usually means their electronics won't get scrambled by the EM pulse generated by a nearby nuclear detonation, except for missile silos. They are actually hardened against the shock wave, as well as the EM pulse from a nearby nuclear detonation. Anything less than a direct hit (all depends on the yield when you say "direct) will not destroy a "hardened" silo.

Our bombers are "hardened" against nuclear detonations. That means their electronics won't get fried and will continue to keep them flying toward their targets. The thermal radiation and shock wave can still bring them down though. However, the range of heat and shock is much less than EM pulse.

[Shadowsided]

What about a nuclear explosion nearby???

[highsea]

It means it's EMP hardened.

If you hit it with a nuke tipped missile, there would be problems, lol.

[Shadowsided]

The W87 warhead belongs to the newest missile warhead family, sharing a design similar to the W88. It was designed for use on the Peacekeeper (MX) ICBM. It combines a relatively high yield with increased accuracy to make it an effective hard target kill weapon. It is hardened against nuclear effects, and has enhanced safety features.

http://www.geocities.com/peacekeeper_icbm/warhead.htm

it say it is hardended against nuclear effects. Does that mean they can't be affected by nuclear tipped missiles???? Can anyone provide more info on this??

I also hear the Russians can't stop the D-5 when launched close to shore?