Re: Air Power was: REALITY CHECK TIME!

At 12:08 AM -0700 7/22/02, Eric Foley wrote:
>
>Neat.	The problem is, the kind of sensor output coming from your air
>defenses has a tendency to draw missiles like magnets.  Even today, we
have
>satellites capable of reading your license plate from orbit and
anti-radar
>missiles that will use your own detection systems as guidance against
you.
>The Iraqis don't dare even turn on air defense radars in the no-fly
zones
>because they have a tendency to get shot quickly.

The neat thing about planetary defenses is that you can target 
objects coming in from orbit like noone's business. They are 
screaming in at very fast Velocities and emit a huge thermal 
signature due to surface friction heating. Add to that, you can build 
"hardened" Phased array systems today for looking at the sky. There 
are some that SAC built that are nuke blast resistant from my 
understanding. Essentially a massive sloped face made of concrete 
with significant aperture width to resolve basketball sized objects 
in orbit.

>Which ultimately means that air control is probably going to go to
whoever
>has space control.  Space control means that the high altitude
satellites

It's all a matter of wresting control. The US beat Iraq into 
submission because they didn't put up much of a fight and we brought 
massive amounts of hardware. Now, imagine a similar fight between 
another nation and the US with parity in air defense and air power 
projection. Not such an easy fight. Local space control will be 
likely. Dominance is another thing entirely on a major world that a 
space nation wishes to keep.

>for communicating and detecting things will all be on that side.  Air
>defense sensors, anywhere on the planet, will be detectable by these
things
>and will, much as they do today, attract either orbital bombarbment or
>surface-skimming cruise missile attack very quickly.  And that's
assuming

These surface skimming cruise missiles will get to the surface how? 
And you launch at the first emitters that you see? Ok, so then your 
launching ships are whacked when they go after a few real and 
multiple fake EMF emitters. Drones to make the Search radar's go off 
work both ways. While you're dropping bombardment vessels into low 
orbit, the planet defenses are putting ball bearings into your orbit 
or seeding those likely points so you have to spend time evading 
those to miss your target windows for bombardment.

Then at some point the land based lasers open up on you. They can 
generate far more power than you can since they can place a massive 
reactor underground (free shielding where you aren't worried about 
weight) where they can dump huge amounts of waste heat into bodies of 
water. You have to dump waste heat into an airless vacum. Not an 
efficient method of heat regulation. Land based laser emitters can be 
set up with long reflection tunnels that emerge on the surface and 
focus the beams at remote points away from the actual emitter. 
Destroy a reflector and you've dealt with one bolt hole. 
Additionally, those points can be armored like noone's business.

Additionally, land based systems can be build mobile so they can move 
around while you aren't in orbit around those points. Bun Bun will 
make your day miserable when she pops her head up and launches a 
massive Anti-matter round at your heavy landers. So you have to send 
the light stuff in first. The land based air power will likely cause 
additional problems for you as they will be maneuvering and following 
your small stuff in and dealing with your CAP.

You had better have 3-1 odds and work everything like clockwork with 
none of Mr Murphy's laws cropping up. If not, then it won't be a good 
fight and you might not win.

>that they haven't bombarded from orbit with enough firepower to reduce
the
>surface population to mush in the first place.

If you're bombing then you don't likely want the land anyhow.
-- 
--
Ryan Gill	       rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com
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