Chinese lunar missile base

[sferrin]

sferrin - I am persoanlly hoping for a new missile in a super hard silo. I guy can dream.
http://www.infowars.com/chinese-state-media-brags-of-plan-to-establish-death-star-moon-base/

So if China say one day 'nuke them from orbit' will it be from the moon to earth?

Trying to nuke someone on Earth from the moon would be about as inefficient as you could do it. We'd see them coming for days.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Woo! Everybody panic!

PLA dreams of turning moon into Death Star, says expert

Meh.
Still, it's an opportunity to post this:

 

[Triton]

Adjacent to their Helium-3 mining operation? That sort of violates the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 that the People's Republic of China signed on 12/30/83. Time to dust off those Project Horizon plans.

 

[yasotay]

Alas, the high ground will always have the advantage.

 

[Jemiba]

About the tactical situation of such a missile firing position: It probably would be difficult to hide
it, not prone to colleteral damage, when attacked, open to recce, and to my opinion, missiles
started from the moon, with a much longer flight time and foreseeable trajectory should be relatively
easy to intercept. The only worthwhile reason (for China) I can see for such programs, is to force
other super powers into a new arms race.

 

[Orionblamblam]

with a much longer flight time

A few hours, depending on the launch system. Apollo took three days, but it was also a minimum-energy transfer orbit.

foreseeable trajectory should be relatively
easy to intercept.

Doubtful. It seems highly unlikely that lunar nukes would be used for a first strike; rather, a retaliatory system. in which case the terrestrial weapons have *already* flown, the space assets have been largely trashed, and the ground-based infrastructure flattened and scattered. So there will be few tracking systems able to watch deep space. And making the incoming warheads stealthy should not be too difficult. The boosters should be trackable, but even with a fast transfer there'll be a lot of time for a post-boost system using quiet and hard-to-detect engines to shove the buses onto new tajectories.


The only worthwhile reason (for China) I can see for such programs, is to force
other super powers into a new arms race.

 

[Jemiba]

... And making the incoming warheads stealthy should not be too difficult.

Especially if other nations would follow this way, it could perhaps then be used for a first strike
with a plausible deniability ?
I won't expect those "missile bases" to be more, than lunar landers carrying a number of
missiles. If it's in the form of a stealthified rover, tracking could be difficult, of course.

Nevertheless, to me it looks more as a way to spread uncertainty, than to threaten the world
with a "Deathstar"

 

[Orionblamblam]

Especially if other nations would follow this way, it could perhaps then be used for a first strike
with a plausible deniability ?

Sizable missions to the moon would be tracked. We'd know who launched the stuff to the moon in the first place.

I'd classify the whole thing as "some guy yammering" more than anything, though.

 

[Michel Van]

let see for benefit and disadvantage of Nuke on Moon

The Moon got low gravity field, mean you can launch the Warheads with smaller stage
The warheads take some time 3-4 day to hit there target, so allot time to evacuated the target's
You can take bigger rockets to make the Warhead faster, so it hit targets in hours
but you need very very big heavy Launch rocket to launch that mass to the Moon save without disaster.

ABM defense is easy against missile from Earth to Moon, because there slowing down until the moon gravity pull them down.
the Warhead dashing down with around 11 km/sec or even more, what make ABM from Earth difficult.

Attacking the lunar launch site is problematic, it dig under lunar soil, so a nuke detonate on surface has little effect
do lack of atmosphere like earth, so the Nuke must be a big "bunker buster"
who penetrate deep in lunar soil before it's detonate.
Except they used Mass-driver ala Heinlein and catapult rocks on Earth, that thing is dam big and easy to hit

Another Problem is Logistic and maintenance
is the Lunar site a full automatic Doomsday machine or manned Military outpost ?
the Doomsday machine is cheap, but we had to face the day if that dam thing goes berserk…
it's manned base you drive cost astronomic high, with resupply flights, who are also easy targets for enemy ABM...

 

[Grey Havoc]

sferrin - I am persoanlly hoping for a new missile in a super hard silo. I guy can dream.
http://www.infowars.com/chinese-state-media-brags-of-plan-to-establish-death-star-moon-base/

So if China say one day 'nuke them from orbit' will it be from the moon to earth?

Trying to nuke someone on Earth from the moon would be about as inefficient as you could do it. We'd see them coming for days.

Not necessarily, for example if they use ORION type 'buses'.

 

[sferrin]

sferrin - I am persoanlly hoping for a new missile in a super hard silo. I guy can dream.
http://www.infowars.com/chinese-state-media-brags-of-plan-to-establish-death-star-moon-base/

So if China say one day 'nuke them from orbit' will it be from the moon to earth?

Trying to nuke someone on Earth from the moon would be about as inefficient as you could do it. We'd see them coming for days.

Not necessarily, for example if they use ORION type 'buses'.

If we're going to talk science fiction why not just attribute them with antimatter drives? Even with nuclear pulse propulsion they wouldn't get here in less time than an ICBM launched from earth.

 

[Jemiba]

Some posts from te Nuclear Weapons NEWS ONLY thread were added here