Word: warheaded
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...breakthrough. It changed all the equations of scientific war, and it forced on the Department of Defense a grave decision: to concentrate intensively on the ICBM. No longer did the intercontinental ballistic missile need to hit a one-mile "pickle barrel" to be effective. A T-N (thermonuclear) warhead in the megaton range (equivalent to millions of tons of TNT) would blot out a large city even if it exploded well outside the city's limits, and its radioactive fallout would have a killing effect a long way downwind. So the ICBM, besides being fairly small, might be fairly...
...Entry Crisis. Somewhere during the passage through space, which will last only 30 minutes over a 5,000-mile range, the bulk of the missile separates from the "reentry body," i.e., the nose cone and warhead. Now comes the crisis of the missile's life. As it drops down into the fringe of the atmosphere 60 to 80 miles up, it is moving at about 16,000 m.p.h. At this enormous speed, even the thin upper air generates temperatures that will vaporize any known substance. The dense lower air is even worse, and it smacks the re-entry body...
...designers of the ICBM believe that re-entry is their worst problem. The missile must not burn up, as most natural meteors do, and it must not lose its shape. Its thermonuclear warhead must not be exploded prematurely, and it must not be so damaged that it will not explode...
...moderate. When it hits thick air, it will therefore be moving more slowly and have a better chance of getting through to the target. Another method, probably the most important one, is to keep heat from penetrating more than the skin of the missile. A third possibility, exploding the warhead while many miles above the surface, is not acceptable to the ICBM-men. The great thermonuclear charge might still have a blast-and-heat effect on the ground far below, but it would not produce other effects-chiefly radioactive fallout...
...ICBM will be comparatively cheap. After the enormous development costs are paid, each missile will cost, not counting the warhead, about $1,000,000. (A B-52 bomber costs $8,000,000.) It will need few spare parts. It will not have to be flown to keep the crew in practice, thus eliminating "attrition" (crackups). Its launching site will be very cheap compared with the cost of a modern bomber base. Missiles can be dispersed widely, a few or one to each launching site. They can be hidden to a considerable extent, they are potentially mobile, they...