Word: thermonuclear
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...force; if he does not, he will be considered an inadequate service chief. Too often the J.C.S. result is a standoff, with decisions deferred or compromised. For example. Air Force doctrine holds that any aircraft carrier would be a sitting duck in a war of missiles and thermonuclear bombs. U.S. Navy doctrine holds that the mobility of aircraft carriers gives them an advantage over land air bases. Result: billions are committed to both systems, even though Navy bombers and Air Force bombers are both ways of waging similar sorts of strategic nuclear war-each requiring distinct and gigantic support systems...
Snark, winged, air-breathing and subtonic, will fly five to seven hours to target as opposed to 15 to 30 minutes for the intercontinental ballistic missiles still under development. But Snark can carry thermonuclear warhead accurately to target at 5,000 milerange. And Snark, added or not with countermeasures to confuse enemy radar, is also a highly promising decoy weapon to lure enemy defenders away from main strike forces delivering the decisive blows elsewhere...
...ability to intercept and detonate an enemy's guided missiles before they can damage the U.S. proper. But beyond that was a vital area where serious exploration has made little if any inroad in public consciousness. Prime question: What can shelters do to protect people in all-out thermonuclear...
...missiles. Far more demanding than the anti-missile itself is development of the fully integrated and highly automatic system required-in the limited time available -to detect an ICBM on its way. track it, predict its trajectory and, at the proper instant, launch an intercept missile with nuclear or thermonuclear warhead. And what is the proper instant? When the missile is still in outer space? Or after it has slowed within the atmosphere? How will the system operate if a Hydra-headed missile rains down multiple charges or decoys? Or takes aerodynamic evasive action? Or orbits before plunging (see SCIENCE...
...long-range, thermonuclear ballistic missile is an "ultimate" weapon in only one sense: defense against it is so difficult that it may prove impossible. But if adequate defense is ever achieved, missiles can learn new tricks and become "ultimate" again...