Conventional Ballistic Missles-Why not for Everyone?

Finn McCool

Captain
Registered Member
Conventional ballistic missles are almost always something that poorer, less militarily capable nations use to even the odds with their more advanced first world rivals. Ballistic missles in general have drawbacks-They are innaccurate, that's the biggest one, and in their present form have a more defensive and detterent stance. But they have advantages too. They are much more difficult to kill than a cruise missle, and have long ranges. They can also carry a lot of explosives. And as we have seen in Lebanon, they are hard to find and kill. So, I want to know, why don't first world militaries have conventional ballistic missle stocks of their own. I'm sure that it wouldn't be too difficult for the US, Japan or an EU nation/s to develop a ballistic missle that has precision capability. That would be an incredibly useful tool. So why doesn't one exsist?
 

Roger604

Senior Member
Finn McCool said:
Conventional ballistic missles are almost always something that poorer, less militarily capable nations use to even the odds with their more advanced first world rivals. Ballistic missles in general have drawbacks-They are innaccurate, that's the biggest one, and in their present form have a more defensive and detterent stance. But they have advantages too. They are much more difficult to kill than a cruise missle, and have long ranges. They can also carry a lot of explosives. And as we have seen in Lebanon, they are hard to find and kill. So, I want to know, why don't first world militaries have conventional ballistic missle stocks of their own. I'm sure that it wouldn't be too difficult for the US, Japan or an EU nation/s to develop a ballistic missle that has precision capability. That would be an incredibly useful tool. So why doesn't one exsist?

One reason is that "accuracy" for ballistic and cruise missiles mean totally different things. For a ballistic missile, a CEP of 150 meters is very accurate. But cruise missiles are way more accurate. You can shoot a cruise missile through a window of your choosing.

You might say that ballistic missiles are the poor man's bomber. Western militaries do not need a poor man's bomber.
 

sumdud

Senior Member
VIP Professional
The range is one problem, firepower is another. The UN did ban missile trades involving those with either a range of more than 300km or payload of 500 kg, kind of nuttering its abilities.

And mobile? If you point to those in Lebanon, those are small calibre MLRS, not ballistic missiles of the size and weight that I hope you mean, like Scuds, or DFs. These take at least 15 minutes(I think) to bring out of action.
 

crazyinsane105

Junior Member
VIP Professional
Roger604 said:
You might say that ballistic missiles are the poor man's bomber. Western militaries do not need a poor man's bomber.

Actually, Turkey has one of the most powerful military forces on this planet yet they are still using ballistic missiles:

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