Russia Is Building a Nuclear Space Bomber

[uhnope]

Source: Daily Beast

The tech is pretty basic. But alone among space-plane developers, the Kremlin is proposing to arm its space plane. With nukes. That’s not only a gross violation of international law, it represents a fairly profound act of hypocrisy on Russia’s part. It wasn’t long ago that the Russian government accused the United States of weaponizing space by sending aloft the nimble, versatile X-37B, basically a quarter-size, remote-controlled version of the Space Shuttle that could, in theory, carry weapons—but does not.

To be clear, a nuclear-armed space plane would be dangerously destabilizing, as it would totally upset the current, tenuous balance of power between the United States and Russia. The Pentagon could respond to a Russian orbital nuke bomber by quickly deploying a space bomber of its own. In other words, an atomic arms race... in space—a development no one should welcome.

Lt. Col. Aleksei Solodovnikov, a rocketry instructor at the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy in St. Petersburg who is overseeing the space plane’s development, said the orbital bomber would be flight-ready by 2020. It’s unclear how much money the Kremlin is investing in the project, and how serious senior officers are about actually deploying the space plane, if and when Solodovnikov and his team finish it.

In any event, the military space plane could give Russia a potentially history-altering nuclear first-strike capability. “The idea is that the bomber will take off from a normal home airfield to patrol Russian airspace,” Solodovnikov said, according to Sputnik, a government-owned news site. “Upon command, it will ascend into outer space, strike a target with nuclear warheads and then return to its home base.”

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/14/russia-is-building-a-nuclear-space-bomber.html

[wcmagumba]

1. then return to its home base...

Not likely to be available for return trips....imho...

[jpak]

2. We invented it first!!1111

pounding shoe on lectern...

[uawchild]

10. We did!

Our X37B robotic space bomber is already operational.

[toddwv]

20. And its big brother

the Xs-1 is already in development.

[Purveyor]

3. RIA Novosti: New Russian Bomber to Be Able to Launch Nuclear Attacks From Outer Space

The Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy is developing a hypersonic strategic bomber capable of striking with nuclear warheads from outer space, Lt. Col. Aleksei Solodovnikov told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

A trial model of Russia's nuclear-capable outer space strategic bomber will be developed by 2020, according to its developer.

Russian commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, had earlier reported that the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy has already developed and tested an engine for the experimental aircraft.

The engine is expected to be showcased at the Army-2016

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160713/1042888473/russia-space-bomber-engine.html

[ozone82]

4. It's In Responce To This...

Which the military has been working on for some time. Armed with conventional weapons, it could far more destabilizing than systems like ICBMs, Tomahawks.....

[link:http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/04/problem-pentagon-hypersonic-missile/127493/|

[sofa king]

5. Pshaw.

What launches a space plane? A ballistic missile, only bigger and slower and easier to see. We've spent ungodly sums of money to detect and observe any rocket launch around the world, and a spaceplane is just a more expensive way of delivering fewer nuclear weapons to the same targets.

So the Russians are welcome to theirs. It requires absolutely no response that we do not already have.

[uawchild]

7. we already have our OWN space bomber

The idea with these space planes is that they can stay in space for a very long time. So it doesn't matter if anyone detects the launch.

We have our own secret military "space plane" up for a year already. That's the robotic vehicle the OP mentioned.

Mystery Mission: Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Nears 1 Year in Orbit



The first X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle waits in the encapsulation cell of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle on April 5, 2010, at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Florida. Half of the Atlas V 5-meter fairing is visible in the background.
Credit: U.S. Air Force

The OP states that the X37B, OUR robotic space plane, COULD carry weapons BUT of course it does not.

Let me laugh at that statement again.

This seems like a good platform to place the hypersonic missiles we are developing on. In this thread, ozone82 already provided a link about them. We say these missiles will, OF COURSE, be non- nuclear.

Uh huh, sure. I believe that, don't you?

[sofa king]

8. Yeah, I see that problem, but...

... I still don't worry about it. At best, it could try to paralyze the US with a single large EMP weapon, and the US nuclear system was specifically built to work around that possibility. We would know exactly when such strikes were possible, and easily be able to account for it.

It's a great way for the Russians to blow limited defense funds on crap that they don't need and which won't work, though, so I'd rather see them go that way rather than build four dozen more MIRV-tossers for the same price.

[uhnope]

22. BS false equivalence once again. This is Russian officials & state media BOASTING of preparations...

to put nukes in space, to nuke targets on earth from space, shouting to the world about their dreams of weaponized space. It's a gross and appalling attack on worldwide efforts to make a better future for our planet.

[uawchild]

23. Right we are simply more sneaky. Lol. n/t

[uhnope]

24. I'm glad you find humor in it

A fascist nuclear power with a space program, led by a thuggish ex-KGB headcase who likes to post photos of himself with his shirt off, bragging to the world its preparations to nuke the planet from orbit if necessary. I'm having trouble finding a lol in that, especially today.

[uawchild]

25. Laughing about your attempts

to ignore the fact that we, the US, are leading in the rush to militarize space. People can look at the X37B space bomber and decide for themselves if it can be used to launch nukes from orbit.

Your OP article stated that the X47B COULD carry weapons, but of course it's not. Lol. I laughed at that bit too.

[Rex]

9. Stupid.

[Oneironaut]

11. Well, too bad the U.S. would just launch all of its missiles anyways.

I'm not sure how this really does anything. Why does speed matter when the end result is the same?

[uawchild]

13. Speed and ability to radically change course

would let them defeat any missile defense system.

[Night Watchman]

12. Does anyone really think WE DON'T have weapons in space?

Come on!

[uawchild]

14. And what has our X37B been doing

up in orbit for a YEAR now? It's a weapon delivery system.

[cstanleytech]

15. Its certainly possible but actual evidence to support the US actually having any in

orbit? Nope.

[cstanleytech]

16. I'm kinda yawning over the story.

Why? Because I dont think an armed spaceplane really changes anything between the US and Russia as both countries still have plenty of Nuclear missiles.

[kentauros]

17. Well, at least it's not a SLAM

Supersonic Low Altitude Missile

The Supersonic Low Altitude Missile or SLAM was a U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons project conceived around 1955, and cancelled in 1964. SLAMs were conceived of as unmanned nuclear-powered ramjets capable of delivering thermonuclear warheads deep into enemy territory.

Although a prototype of the airframe was never constructed, the SLAM was to be a wingless, fin-guided aircraft. Apart from the ventral ram-air intake it was very much in keeping with traditional missile design. Its estimated airspeed at thirty thousand feet was Mach 4.2.

The use of a nuclear engine in the airframe promised to give the missile staggering and unprecedented low-altitude range, estimated to be roughly 113,000 miles (182,000 km) (over four and a half times the equatorial circumference of the earth). The engine also acted as a secondary weapon for the missile: direct neutron radiation from the virtually unshielded reactor would sicken, injure, or kill living things beneath the flight path; the stream of fallout left in its wake would poison enemy territory; and its strategically selected crash site would receive intense radioactive contamination. In addition, the sonic waves given off by its passage would damage ground installations.

Another revolutionary aspect of the SLAM was its reliance on automation. It would have the mission of a long-range bomber, but would be completely unmanned: accepting radioed commands up to its failsafe point, whereafter it would rely on a terrain contour matching (TERCOM) radar system to navigate to preprogrammed targets.

[Elmergantry]

18. We must close the space bomber gap! NT

[TeamPooka]

19. President trump welcomes our new russian overlords. nt

[Darb]

26. Great, another dick making decisions with his dick.

Fucking dickheads are the problem, here and there.