Kinetic weapons is not a new concept but tungsten rods are. If anyone has ever read Robert Heineken's novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" you will remember that the moon colonists "threw rocks" at Earth to win their independence. The rocks hit like nuclear bombs... mass X velocity = energy.
They cant possibly have a nukes firepower.
If the rod release a nukes power through its kinetics, then that entire nukes-worth of energy needs to be put into the rod as it flies into space. Ive never seen any rocket with enough feul energy to equal a nuke.
I didn't say "equal to" a nuclear bomb, but "like" a nuclear bomb. It's a matter of quality, not quantity. The energy released would be quite larger than if you took a tungsten rod and simply dropped it from 100 feet. Make that distance greater, give it enough time to maximum velocity, and you have a LOT more energy release.
You see similar energy bursts when a small bullet, say 125 grains, is fired at 1,500 feet per second against a gelatin block. 125 grains is not a lot of weight by itself, but speed it up to high velocity from a firearm and watch what it does to a gelatin block. Now think of an aerodynamically shaped tungsten rod weighing in at a few hundred pounds traveling at the speed of sound or better. BOOM!
The kinetic energy they gain is siphoned from the earth (gravity) with aerodynamic design to minimize energy loss unlike the broadside of a shuttle designed for resistance.
Agree they don't have as much net energy as a modern nuke, but imagine focusing even 1/50th the energy of a nuke on a 6" target. Stands to reason it'd make a helluva divot.
Kinetic weapons is not a new concept but tungsten rods are. If anyone has ever read Robert Heineken's novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" you will remember that the moon colonists "threw rocks" at Earth to win their independence. The rocks hit like nuclear bombs... mass X velocity = energy.
mass x velocity x velocity. Velocity x2 means energy x4. Velocity x3 means energy x9.
They cant possibly have a nukes firepower. If the rod release a nukes power through its kinetics, then that entire nukes-worth of energy needs to be put into the rod as it flies into space. Ive never seen any rocket with enough feul energy to equal a nuke.
I didn't say "equal to" a nuclear bomb, but "like" a nuclear bomb. It's a matter of quality, not quantity. The energy released would be quite larger than if you took a tungsten rod and simply dropped it from 100 feet. Make that distance greater, give it enough time to maximum velocity, and you have a LOT more energy release.
You see similar energy bursts when a small bullet, say 125 grains, is fired at 1,500 feet per second against a gelatin block. 125 grains is not a lot of weight by itself, but speed it up to high velocity from a firearm and watch what it does to a gelatin block. Now think of an aerodynamically shaped tungsten rod weighing in at a few hundred pounds traveling at the speed of sound or better. BOOM!
The kinetic energy they gain is siphoned from the earth (gravity) with aerodynamic design to minimize energy loss unlike the broadside of a shuttle designed for resistance.
Agree they don't have as much net energy as a modern nuke, but imagine focusing even 1/50th the energy of a nuke on a 6" target. Stands to reason it'd make a helluva divot.