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Testing the US Military’s Worst Idea

Veritasium・18 minutes read

A video involving dropping metal weights from a helicopter onto a sandcastle city is a portrayal of the concept of kinetic energy weapons like Rods from God, but the practical implementation for missile defense against ICBMs is deemed complex, costly, and impractical in reality. Jerry Pournelle's idea of Project Thor with tungsten rods in orbit for rapid strikes showcases the potential of kinetic energy weapons but faces challenges in accuracy, communication, and cost for real-world application.

Insights

  • Tungsten rods in orbit, as proposed by Jerry Pournelle's Project Thor, could provide a powerful kinetic energy weapon capable of high-speed impacts, akin to the destructive force of the MOAB, offering a unique and potentially devastating military capability.
  • Despite the intriguing concept of Rods from God as a space-based weapon system, the practical implementation for missile defense against ICBMs is hindered by complex challenges such as accuracy issues, communication difficulties, and exorbitant costs, rendering it more suitable for science fiction scenarios rather than real-world military strategies.

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Recent questions

  • What is Project Thor?

    Project Thor involves tungsten rods in orbit.

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Summary

00:00

"Rods from God: Powerful Kinetic Energy Weapons"

  • The video is the biggest, most ambitious, and expensive ever made, involving dropping giant metal weights from a helicopter onto a sandcastle city.
  • In the late 1950s, the US faced a threat from the Soviet Union's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities.
  • Boeing researcher Jerry Pournelle conceived a space weapon idea called Project Thor involving tungsten rods in orbit for rapid strikes.
  • The kinetic energy of tungsten rods in orbit could reach speeds of Mach 10, impacting targets with immense force.
  • The MOAB, or Mother of All Bombs, is a powerful non-nuclear explosive, with tungsten rods carrying similar energy.
  • The concept of kinetic missile interceptors like Rods from God was considered by the Reagan administration in the 1980s.
  • Kinetic energy is directly proportional to mass and velocity squared, making even light objects carry significant energy.
  • Kinetic energy weapons, like Rods from God, could create explosions upon impact, penetrating soil and used for precise strikes.
  • Dropping a rod from 500 meters resulted in significant kinetic energy upon impact, demonstrating the explosive potential.
  • Tungsten's density makes it ideal for such kinetic energy weapons, with the ability to penetrate targets effectively.

15:54

Challenges of Implementing Rods from God

  • Tungsten rods are smaller in volume than steel, reducing resistance in the atmosphere and have a high melting point of nearly 3500 degrees Celsius, requiring less shielding during re-entry.
  • The sleek, aerodynamic shape of the rods aids in hitting the target with maximum speed, minimizing drag like arrows, bullets, and ballistic missiles.
  • A failed attempt to hit a sandcastle city from a height of 100 meters showcases the difficulty of aiming kinetic projectiles accurately.
  • Aiming Rods from God is challenging due to hypersonic speeds, communication difficulties with the superheated plasma surrounding the rod, and the impracticality of geostationary orbit or low earth orbit for quick strikes.
  • Implementing Rods from God for missile defense against ICBMs would require a costly and complex system involving hundreds of satellites and billions of dollars, making it unfeasible in reality.
  • The idea of Rods from God, conceived by Jerry Pournelle, is more suited to science fiction, as practical execution proves to be highly challenging and costly.
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