Kinetic bombardment
Encyclopedia
A kinetic bombardment is the act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile
, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy
of the projectile impacting at very high velocities. The concept is encountered in science fiction
and is thought to have originated during the Cold War
.
Non-orbital bombardments with kinetic projectiles, such as lobbing stones with siege engines such as catapult
s or trebuchet
s are considered siege warfare
, not kinetic bombardment.
s from Earth orbit to damage targets on the ground. Jerry Pournelle
originated the concept while working in operations research at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a science-fiction writer.
The most described system is "an orbiting tungsten
telephone pole with small fins and a computer in the back for guidance". The weapon can be down-scaled, an orbiting "crowbar
" rather than a pole. The system described in the 2003 United States Air Force
(USAF) report was that of 20 feet (6.1 m), 1 foot (0.3048 m) tungsten rods, that are satellite controlled, and have global strike capability, with impact speeds of Mach 10, and strike 25-foot accuracy.
The time between deorbiting and impact would only be a few minutes, and depending on the orbits and positions in the orbits, the system would have a world-wide range. There is no requirement to deploy missiles, aircraft or other vehicles. Although the SALT II (1979) prohibited the deployment of orbital weapons of mass destruction
, it did not prohibit the deployment of conventional weapon
s. The system is not prohibited by either the Outer Space Treaty
nor the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
.
The idea is that the weapon would inflict damage because it moves at orbit
al velocities, at least 9 kilometers per second. Smaller weapons can deliver measured amounts of energy as small as a 225 kg conventional bomb. Some systems are quoted as having the yield of a small tactical nuclear bomb. These designs are envisioned as a bunker buster.
The highly elongated shape and high density are to enhance sectional density and therefore minimize kinetic energy loss due to air friction and maximize penetration of hard or buried targets. The larger device is expected to be quite good at penetrating deeply buried bunkers and other command and control targets. The smaller "crowbar" size might be employed for anti-armor, anti-aircraft, anti-satellite and possibly anti-personnel use.
The weapon would be very hard to defend against. It has a very high closing velocity and a small radar cross-section. Launch is difficult to detect. Any infra-red launch signature occurs in orbit, at no fixed position. The infra-red launch signature also has a small magnitude compared to a ballistic missile launch. One drawback of the system is that the weapon's sensors would almost certainly be blind during atmospheric reentry
due to the plasma sheath that would develop ahead of it, so a mobile target could be difficult to hit if it performed any unexpected maneuvering. The system would also have to cope with atmospheric heating from re-entry, which could melt the weapon.
While the larger version might be individually launched, the smaller versions would be launched from "pods" or "carriers" that contained several missiles.
The phrase "Rods from God" is also used to describe the same concept. A USAF report called them "hypervelocity rod bundles".
's 1930s and 1940s Lensman series. In these books, however, planetary masses were used rather than smaller projectiles. It was in the mid-1960s that popular science interest in orbital mechanics lead to a number of science fiction stories which explored their implications. Among these was The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
by Robert A. Heinlein
in which the citizens of the moon bombard the earth with rocks wrapped in iron containers which are in turn fired from an electromagnetic launch system at Earth-based targets.
In the 1970s and 1980s this idea was refined in science fiction novels such as Footfall
by Larry Niven
and Jerry Pournelle
(the same Pournelle that first proposed the idea for military use in a non-fiction context), in which aliens use a Thor-type system. During the 1980s and 1990s references to such weapons became a staple of science fiction roleplaying games such as Traveller
and Shadowrun
as well as visual media including Babylon 5's
"mass drivers" and the film Starship Troopers
, itself an adaptation of a Heinlein's novel of the same name
.
One of the first references to the "crowbar" is in David's Sling by Mark Steigler (Baen, 1988). Set in the Cold War, the story is based on the use of (relatively inexpensive) information-based "intelligent" systems to overcome an enemy's numerical advantage. The orbital kinetic bombardment system is used first to destroy the Soviet tank armies that have invaded Europe and then to take out Soviet ICBM silos prior to a nuclear strike.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, kinetic weapons as science fiction plot devices appeared in video games, featuring prominently in the plot of Mass Effect 2
, for example. In the 2004 military science fiction
novel Orphanage by Robert Buettner
, the Earth's major cities are being wiped out from kinetic projectiles from an exo-solar alien race's base on the Jupiter moon of Ganymede.
In the 2008 novel Tom Clancy's Endwar
, kinetic strikes, known as "Rods from God", have replaced intercontinental ballistic missiles as US military's most destructive strategic weapon. They were used to destroy a large Russian armoured convoy in Alberta.
Also in Clive Cussler's 2008 novel Plague Ship
a satellite called Stalin's Fist is used by the protagonist to destroy a cult's underground fortress.
Neal Stephenson
's novel Anathem
contains an incident in which an orbiting spaceship attacks a planet with a rod, striking and activating a dormant volcano and causing it to destroy everything in the vicinity downhill.
In the science fiction game of Renegade Legion
, the concept of the Thor system is used very close to the original, real world concept, including the name itself: Thor Missiles. The weapons are stored in space aboard satellites, the size of tree trunks, made of solid metal, and equipped with computers and guidance fins to steer them as they descend towards their target, and do not use explosives. Impact velocity and mass are sufficient to destroy any known tank in the game.
In Daniel Suarez
's book Freedom, a suborbital version of Thor is deployed, composed of many small Arrows or Spikes, for anti-personnel use.
In John Varley
's book Red Lightning, something traveling at near-light speed bounces off Earth causing a massive tsunami in the Atlantic. Authorities in the book believe that the object is a spaceship deliberately directed at planet Earth, which was not correctly aimed.
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
of the projectile impacting at very high velocities. The concept is encountered in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and is thought to have originated during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Non-orbital bombardments with kinetic projectiles, such as lobbing stones with siege engines such as catapult
Catapult
A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during...
s or trebuchet
Trebuchet
A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
s are considered siege warfare
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
, not kinetic bombardment.
Project Thor
Project Thor is an idea for a weapons system that launches kinetic projectileProjectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
s from Earth orbit to damage targets on the ground. Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
originated the concept while working in operations research at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a science-fiction writer.
The most described system is "an orbiting tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
telephone pole with small fins and a computer in the back for guidance". The weapon can be down-scaled, an orbiting "crowbar
Crowbar (tool)
A crowbar, a wrecking bar, pry bar, or prybar, or sometimes a prise bar or prisebar, and more informally a jimmy, jimmy bar, jemmy or gooseneck is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on one or both ends for removing nails...
" rather than a pole. The system described in the 2003 United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF) report was that of 20 feet (6.1 m), 1 foot (0.3048 m) tungsten rods, that are satellite controlled, and have global strike capability, with impact speeds of Mach 10, and strike 25-foot accuracy.
The time between deorbiting and impact would only be a few minutes, and depending on the orbits and positions in the orbits, the system would have a world-wide range. There is no requirement to deploy missiles, aircraft or other vehicles. Although the SALT II (1979) prohibited the deployment of orbital weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
, it did not prohibit the deployment of conventional weapon
Conventional weapon
The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons that are in relatively wide use that are not weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Conventional weapons include small arms and light weapons, sea and land mines, as well as ...
s. The system is not prohibited by either the Outer Space Treaty
Outer Space Treaty
The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that forms the basis of international space law...
nor the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons....
.
The idea is that the weapon would inflict damage because it moves at orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
al velocities, at least 9 kilometers per second. Smaller weapons can deliver measured amounts of energy as small as a 225 kg conventional bomb. Some systems are quoted as having the yield of a small tactical nuclear bomb. These designs are envisioned as a bunker buster.
The highly elongated shape and high density are to enhance sectional density and therefore minimize kinetic energy loss due to air friction and maximize penetration of hard or buried targets. The larger device is expected to be quite good at penetrating deeply buried bunkers and other command and control targets. The smaller "crowbar" size might be employed for anti-armor, anti-aircraft, anti-satellite and possibly anti-personnel use.
The weapon would be very hard to defend against. It has a very high closing velocity and a small radar cross-section. Launch is difficult to detect. Any infra-red launch signature occurs in orbit, at no fixed position. The infra-red launch signature also has a small magnitude compared to a ballistic missile launch. One drawback of the system is that the weapon's sensors would almost certainly be blind during atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
due to the plasma sheath that would develop ahead of it, so a mobile target could be difficult to hit if it performed any unexpected maneuvering. The system would also have to cope with atmospheric heating from re-entry, which could melt the weapon.
While the larger version might be individually launched, the smaller versions would be launched from "pods" or "carriers" that contained several missiles.
The phrase "Rods from God" is also used to describe the same concept. A USAF report called them "hypervelocity rod bundles".
In science fiction
Perhaps the earliest examples of kinetic bombardment come from E. E. "Doc" SmithE. E. Smith
Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D., also, E. E. Smith, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, "Skylark" Smith, and Ted was a food engineer and early science fiction author who wrote the Lensman series and the Skylark series, among others...
's 1930s and 1940s Lensman series. In these books, however, planetary masses were used rather than smaller projectiles. It was in the mid-1960s that popular science interest in orbital mechanics lead to a number of science fiction stories which explored their implications. Among these was The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
in which the citizens of the moon bombard the earth with rocks wrapped in iron containers which are in turn fired from an electromagnetic launch system at Earth-based targets.
In the 1970s and 1980s this idea was refined in science fiction novels such as Footfall
Footfall
Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was nominated for the both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1986, and was a No...
by Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
and Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
(the same Pournelle that first proposed the idea for military use in a non-fiction context), in which aliens use a Thor-type system. During the 1980s and 1990s references to such weapons became a staple of science fiction roleplaying games such as Traveller
Traveller (role-playing game)
Traveller is a series of related science fiction role-playing games, the first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop and subsequent editions by various companies remaining in print to this day. The game was inspired from such classic science fiction stories as the Dumarest saga series by...
and Shadowrun
Shadowrun
Shadowrun is a role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.The original game has spawned...
as well as visual media including Babylon 5's
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
"mass drivers" and the film Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers (film)
Starship Troopers is a 1997 American military science fiction film, written by Edward Neumeier , directed by Paul Verhoeven, loosely adapted from Starship Troopers, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the only theatrically released film in the Starship Troopers franchise...
, itself an adaptation of a Heinlein's novel of the same name
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
.
One of the first references to the "crowbar" is in David's Sling by Mark Steigler (Baen, 1988). Set in the Cold War, the story is based on the use of (relatively inexpensive) information-based "intelligent" systems to overcome an enemy's numerical advantage. The orbital kinetic bombardment system is used first to destroy the Soviet tank armies that have invaded Europe and then to take out Soviet ICBM silos prior to a nuclear strike.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, kinetic weapons as science fiction plot devices appeared in video games, featuring prominently in the plot of Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
, for example. In the 2004 military science fiction
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
novel Orphanage by Robert Buettner
Robert Buettner
Robert Buettner is an American author of military science fiction novels. He is a former Military Intelligence Officer, National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology and has been published in the field of Natural Resources Law. He has written five volumes of the Jason Wander series and two...
, the Earth's major cities are being wiped out from kinetic projectiles from an exo-solar alien race's base on the Jupiter moon of Ganymede.
In the 2008 novel Tom Clancy's Endwar
Tom Clancy's EndWar (novel)
Tom Clancy's EndWar is the first novel in the Tom Clancy's EndWar series. It was written under the pseudonym David Michaels and released on February 4, 2008 by Berkley Books. It is based on the video game series of the same name that was published by Ubisoft and released for the Nintendo DS,...
, kinetic strikes, known as "Rods from God", have replaced intercontinental ballistic missiles as US military's most destructive strategic weapon. They were used to destroy a large Russian armoured convoy in Alberta.
Also in Clive Cussler's 2008 novel Plague Ship
Plague Ship (Cussler novel)
Plague Ship is the 5th installment of the The Oregon Files by Clive Cussler & Jack Du Brul. It is based around a series of violent viral attacks on cruise ships by extremists who want to make half the worlds population sterile.- Plot :...
a satellite called Stalin's Fist is used by the protagonist to destroy a cult's underground fortress.
Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
's novel Anathem
Anathem
Anathem is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and formalism.-Plot summary:...
contains an incident in which an orbiting spaceship attacks a planet with a rod, striking and activating a dormant volcano and causing it to destroy everything in the vicinity downhill.
In the science fiction game of Renegade Legion
Renegade Legion
Renegade Legion is a series of science fiction games that were designed by Sam Lewis, produced by FASA, and published from 1989 to 1993. The line was then licensed to Nightshift games, a spin-off of the garage company Crunchy Frog Enterprises by Paul Arden Lidberg, which published one scenario...
, the concept of the Thor system is used very close to the original, real world concept, including the name itself: Thor Missiles. The weapons are stored in space aboard satellites, the size of tree trunks, made of solid metal, and equipped with computers and guidance fins to steer them as they descend towards their target, and do not use explosives. Impact velocity and mass are sufficient to destroy any known tank in the game.
In Daniel Suarez
Daniel Suarez
Daniel Suarez is an American information technology consultant turned author. He initially published under the pseudonym Leinad Zeraus ....
's book Freedom, a suborbital version of Thor is deployed, composed of many small Arrows or Spikes, for anti-personnel use.
In John Varley
John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
's book Red Lightning, something traveling at near-light speed bounces off Earth causing a massive tsunami in the Atlantic. Authorities in the book believe that the object is a spaceship deliberately directed at planet Earth, which was not correctly aimed.
See also
- Kinetic energy penetratorKinetic energy penetratorA kinetic energy penetrator is a type of ammunition which, like a bullet, does not contain explosives and uses kinetic energy to penetrate the target....
- Relativistic kill vehicleRelativistic kill vehicleA relativistic kill vehicle or relativistic bomb is a hypothetical weapon system sometimes found in science fiction. The details of such systems vary widely, but the key common feature is the use of a massive impactor traveling at a significant fraction of light speed to strike the target...
- Prompt Global StrikePrompt Global StrikePrompt Global Strike is a United States military effort to develop a system that can deliver a precision conventional weapon strike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM. Potential scenarios that would require such a fast response might include an impending...