RE: So...We're Expecting Al-Qaeda to Build Cruise Missiles?
December 21, 2014 at 4:14 am
(This post was last modified: December 21, 2014 at 4:17 am by Thumpalumpacus.)
(December 20, 2014 at 10:38 am)Alice Wrote: The additional spotting distance from the horizon doesn't apply... if a cruise missile is coming: we should know that by the time it gets within 500 miles of us (if not well before that). It doesn't even apply to subs from well within that range: we have sensors in the water like crazy... and a blimp high in the sky isn't going to do shit about it.
* Alice feels the paranoia gnawing at her, ignores it.
Can we not just chalk it up to either domestic observation or corporations getting us spending money 'because'?
This is right and wrong. OTH radar could spot the cruise missile, but it is generally inaccurate for guidance, which would be required for hitting a weapon flying at 450kts or so. It generally relies upon good atmospheric conditions in order to propogate and reflect properly, as well. Additionally, because cruise missiles fly very low, they can be routed to take advantage of terrain in order to mask them from ground-based radar sets, even OTH types.
An airborne set, however, would have a much larger scanning area while still relying on much more reliable, and accurate, line-of-site radar methodology. According to
The Army states that the blimps do not carry any cameras or sigint collectors. Could they be lying? Of course. But the military rationale seems reasonable, even if the threat -- and expenditure responding to it -- is overdone.
