Pretty sure at the rate things are going, the USA will destroy itself well before China has to fire a single nuke. Also, the nukes in the USA has a use by date and given how they really suck when it comes to the things that matter (maintenance and upgrades, both of which are lacking), whose to say if the nuclear stockpile of the USA has been already compromised long ago. It’s only a matter of time before the bluff is called and given the current win rate, the USA is bound to lose yet again. Also I do wonder, given how hush hush things are, I wonder, is Fort Knox already empty?
PLA Strategy in a Taiwan Contingency
- Thread starter pugachev_diver
- Start date
Trying for a MAD-breaker is dumb. It's dumb when people push for Golden Dome to do it, and it's dumb for China to try as well. As soon as you start deploying it, the other guy will just set off a couple dozen nukes in the upper atmosphere and fry every satellite in orbit. The resulting Van Allen belt will ensure any replacements get fried too. So the end result is simply no satellites of any kind for anyone. Plus a few percentage points added to global cancer statistics.
Perfect example of a lose-lose scenario.
Lai administration announces to build T-Dome air defense system
They're following the Iron Dome and Golden Dome trend. But are 370mm rockets and those handcrafted by resistance groups the same thing? And still no one dares to address the elephant in the room: how to defend against hypersonic missiles.
They're following the Iron Dome and Golden Dome trend. But are 370mm rockets and those handcrafted by resistance groups the same thing? And still no one dares to address the elephant in the room: how to defend against hypersonic missiles.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Firstly, when there is mounting evidence the other side of the MAD balance equation is growing increasingly unhinged and insane, breaking MAD becomes the only sane response.
Secondly, it’s for this precise reason that I am saying both sides are laying the foundations needed by massively increasing orbital lift capabilities and not actively putting significant pieces in position yet. The idea is that once you give the go ahead, you will deploy your network faster than opfor can respond, and once you do seize the literal high ground, you have to be ruthless in exploiting it to basically enforce an orbital no-fly zone where anything heading to orbit that doesn’t have your prior permission to do so is immediately engaged and destroyed before it can breach the atmosphere.
Thirdly, your idea is only a viable counter if Star Wars is LEO only. In this day and age, it has zero need to be.
Lai can announce lots of things. Let's see if the legislature will actually give him the funds to do it
Breaking MAD because you are afraid of an irrational nuclear exchange is a textbook self-fulfilling prophecy. And how on earth can you launch many thousands of interceptors before the other guy—who is presumably running LOW—responds with a few dozen launches of his own?
I'm not familiar with any technical proposals for non-LEO interceptors. How would that even work? Like how can you physically cover enough distance in time to catch a boost-phase ICBM if you aren't in LEO? Or is the idea to use some ridiculously huge orbital laser? In any case, you should provide a link to whatever paper you have in mind.
My feel is that the Chinese manned moon mission will eventually (longer timeline) results in a moon base that can be militarized in relatively short period of time if needed.
From the moon the Earth is orbitally locked. No deep space exploration is possible without going past the moon guard gate.
It is easy to intercept something from the Earth on the Moon than the other way round, because it takes much less to lift off from the moon than the Earth, and also you only have to travel 10% of the distance between them before the Earth's gravity works in your favour, versus the 90% of the distance other way round.
In the case where two major powers block each other from launching from Earth, the one with a working station on Moon can still launch towards Earth and also towards deep space. The one with a working moon station can keep everyone else in a zoo, really.
The advantages are so great the Chinese leadership will surely not ignore the implications and put in long period, continuous investment and work towards this goal.