Does the United States Need Space-Based Weapons?

By William L. Spacy II

Book Id: WPLBN0002170156
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.6 MB
Reproduction Date: 10/11/2012

Title:	Does the United States Need Space-Based Weapons?
Author:	William L. Spacy II
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Military Science, Aerospace
Collections:	Authors Community, Technology
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Air University Press

Member Page:	Air University Press
Citation APA MLA Chicago L. Spacy I, B. W. (n.d.). Does the United States Need Space-Based Weapons?. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.cc/

Description
A decision to put weapons in space—or to refrain from doing so—should be based on a firm understanding about what such weapons can be expected to achieve. More specifically since numerous orbital weapons concepts have been advocated as natural evolutions of surface and airborne weapons, it would appear useful to compare those proposed spacebased systems with their terrestrial counterparts. Does the United States Need Space-Based Weapons? by Maj William L. Spacy II evaluates the theoretical capabilities of orbital weapons and compares them to weapons already in existence and to emerging concepts proposed for development.

Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Space Weaponization Debate . . . . . . . . . . 1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 SPACE-BASED WEAPONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Directed Energy Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Direct Impact Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Defending Space-Based Assets . . . . . . . . . 32 Technological Factors Bearing on Space-Based Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 3 SEEKING CONTROL OF SPACE: GROUND-BASED ALTERNATIVES FOR SPACE CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Defensive Counterspace . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Offensive Counterspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Nondestructive Approaches to Offensive Counterspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Destructive Approaches to Offensive Counterspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 4 ATTACKING TERRESTRIAL TARGETS: GROUND-BASED ALTERNATIVES FOR FORCE APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Alternatives to Orbital Bombardment . . . . .72 Ballistic Missile Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Radio Frequency Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5 POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . .95 Treaty Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 International Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Domestic Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Space as Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .105 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113