Re: [SG] GMS variants (NO ITS NOT MORE VACC-HEAD STUFF)

At 8:48 AM -0700 5/10/02, John Atkinson wrote:
>--- Tomb <tomb@dreammechanics.com> wrote:
>
>>  Now, me an Allan have been discussing some of these.
>>  I've taken a first
>>  poke at the Laser Designation part of things
>>  (trickier than it looks).
>>  But what about the other areas?
>
>Side note:  Lasers will be blatantly obvious to any SF
>force with optics.  Anyone not using the Mk I Eyeball
>will be able to tell what's being designated and who's
>designating.

Which is why you wait. The profile of things like Copperhead and 
Hellfire allow for a delay and no lock on before the launch and boost 
phases.

>
>Didn't we argue over that already?  Short Form: it
>depends on whether you're a ballistic arc up and then
>down, or a "pop-up" style attack.
>
>The arc flight path is slightly more vulnerable to
>PDS.
>
>I've never heard anything that indicates top attack
>missles are less acurate than straight flying missles.
>  Then again, my two main data points are the Javelin
>and the Dragon, and frankly the Javelin could have a
>50/50 chance of completely dudding and still be better
>than the Dragon.

But a larger top attack missile is bigger and heavier. You've got the 
greater issue of the missile is dead but it's still going to smack in 
to you. That is the great issue with supersonic ASMs. You have to 
kill them further out since the engagement time for the PDS is so 
short and has such a low effectiveness level.