Re: [DSII] Point defence...

Brian Burger 

> > Found this today:
> > 
> > www.trw.com/seg/sats/THEL.html

> > Comments, folks?
> 
> Holy s**t! 

My first thought too...

> Suddenly Dirtside looks alot like the 2020s instead of the
> 2180s...ADS vehicles are here. (maybe...)
> 
> TRW claims this system is ready to ship as soon as you pay for 
> it...anyone actually heard more of the system in actual use? 

This week's Jane's Defence Weekly has an advert for it, and I skimmed
through a notice that Israel wants to deploy it early this summer - or
something like that. I didn't have time to read it thoroughly, though
:-(

> Artillery could be brought back to firing massive volleys of shells,
with
> the fancy seeker shell mixed in with 'dumb' shells, in the hopes that
some
> of the smart shells get through when the system is smoking dumb >
shells...

Yeah. With "only" 60 shots before a re-load (how long does that take?),
it might be possible to saturate it; multiple-warheads rounds where some
sub-munitions are tiny dummies with the radar signature of the real ones
might fool it, etc. 

But even so - if the THEL lives up to its claims, it is *more* powerful
than the DSII ADS, being able to stop SLAM and long-range rocket
artillery...

> Target ID & tracking are the problem, I think - hard to smoke a shell
or
> missle if you can't acquire the target.

Yup.

> $3K US per shot is pretty damn cheap - what's a Patriot round cost?
Lots
> lots more than that, I'm sure.

Not sure if the THEL could stop a SCUD, though if it can take down an
attack heli, well... It seems to be intended more for tactical defence
of
troops, though.

> The future seems to be now...

Yes indeed!

Later,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry