Comment by at-fates-hands | Hacker News Reader

Comment by at-fates-hands | Hacker News Reader

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>> Also, the Satan missile is a scary, and surprisingly huge, thing.

There were some current articles on the SATAN 2 missile which is just as scary:

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), thought to weigh at least 100 tons, is considered to be the largest atomic weapon-carrying rocket ever produced and is capable of carrying as many as a dozen warheads inside its shell.

With an estimated range of 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles), the Sarmat missile is “capable of wiping out parts of the earth the size of Texas or France,” Zvezda said.

The report also said that the missile has been designed with stealth technology, which enables it to be fired at a target without being detected by radar systems.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/05/11/465010/Russia-nucle...

> The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), thought to weigh at least 100 tons,

I don't know why presstv would write it that way, the specs of the missile have been publicly known for decades, and it weighs 209 tons. I guess that's "at least 100".

There really is no such thing as missile stealth. Just penetration aids:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penetration_aid

Both sides worked endlessly on producing and overcoming these and in hindsight a lot were snake-oil. I seriously doubt any ICBM could come down undetected at any time during the cold war. The US had listening/detection posts very close to Soviet territory via NATO nations. The Soviets also had listening/detection posts in Siberia, Cuba, and South America.

Not stealth, but the Soviets did have FOBS which allowed an attack from an unexpected direction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment...

It's scary in that any ICBM is scary--there's nothing the Sarma can do that 2-3 Minuteman IIIs or DF-31s can't do, except maybe better missile defense evasion, and it's not like there's any missile defense available that can handle a full blown ICBM strike.

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