Missile Defence and the media

One thing that I have always wondered about is the inability of major media (A.K.A MSM) to delve into the technical background to their stories with any skill.

Recently, Russia reacted very strongly to suggestions that the US would deploy part of its planned missile defense system in Europe - specifically Poland and the Czech republic. Various stories followed in the press and on TV about this threat.

The first thing to note about this story is that missiles based in Europe are not able to intercept Russian ICBMs unless they are fired at South America. This is because all sub-orbital and orbital vehicles follow Great Circle routes. To divert them from this would take enormous amounts of energy. This means that while small deviations of 100 miles or so are possible, big changes would require missiles far larger than anything that is practical to build. It would rapidly reduce to zero the payload capacity of existing weapons.

So, the path taken by Russian missiles from their silos to a given target is very predictable. All we need to see it is a Great Circle route maker.....

Russia to the US -



Russia to Brazil



Only if the Russians attack Brazil will their missiles pass near enough to Eastern Europe for the suggested American weapons to have a chance to hit them. If fired at the US, they go over the North Pole. Ironically, if the Russians attacked the sites in eastern Europe, it would mean that the missile defense system would have a chnace to hit them.

Why are they so upset then? Partly because those at the top of the Russian military probably aren't that technical, but mostly because this is a reminder that their colonial empire in Eastern Europe is gone.

Or did a Russian general have a very very bad experience at Carnival?