Word: warheaded
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...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...
Bomarc (Boeing) is a supersonic, long-range antiaircraft missile launched from the ground. Boosted into the air by an Aerojet rocket motor, it flies during most of its course on two ram-jets (Marquardt Aircraft Co.). It carries a warhead whose fireball is capable of knocking out more than one bomber of an invading fleet. When in operation, the Bomarc will be stationed in sheds on likely tracks of enemy bombers. Designed to be fired at a moment's notice, it can cover several hundred miles while a manned interceptor is getting clear of the ground...