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The Future of Warfare -- Or "Single Dumbest" Bush Idea?

by Chris Wattie

National Post, with files from news services
Posted at globalresearch.ca 29 August 2001


The U.S. military is drawing up plans for a space bomber that could drop precision bombs from a height of more than 100 kilometres while flying 15 times faster than conventional bombers.

Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, last month ordered the Pentagon to look into developing a spacecraft that "would be valuable for conducting rapid global strikes," according to a planning document issued under his name and obtained by The Los Angeles Times.

The bomber would blast off like a long-range missile and travel over its targets at 15 times the speed and 10 times the altitude of current heavy bombers.

The proposed vehicles would be flying so high and fast they would not even need explosives in their bombs. The projectiles would be able to crash through concrete bunkers and into underground missile silos like meteorites through speed and weight alone.

The bomber would be able to strike targets on the other side of the world within minutes and return to its base within an hour-and-a-half. It would also be out of reach of conventional air defence systems.

The idea of a rocket-propelled space bomber has been around in various guises since the 1930s, when Eugen Sanger, an Austrian rocket scientist, urged Adolf Hitler to build an "antipodal bomber" called the Silver Bird that could skip across the edge of the atmosphere to strike New York City.

Hitler was cool to the plan, but the idea of a bomber that could streak in an orbital path around the globe has captivated rocket scientists and science-fiction enthusiasts ever since.

Proponents say the space bomber could be developed quickly by adapting shelved research for the Star Wars system, begun under Ronald Reagan, along with plans for a reusable spacecraft called the X-33, under development by NASA.

Supporters of the space bomber include General Ralph Eberhardt, the head of the U.S. Air Force's Space Command and the man Mr. Rumsfeld is expected to nominate as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Admiral Craig Quigley, a spokesman for the Pentagon, is also optimistic, saying "The military couldn't get anything [to a war zone] faster than this. It could be useful in any number of scenarios."

However, the craft could set off a new arms race in the stratosphere and has already drawn criticism as an example of the increasing militarization of space.

Tom Daschle, the Democratic Senate leader, has called the plan "the single dumbest thing I've heard from this administration."

European and Asian nations already nervous about the United States's growing lead in military hardware would see the craft as an unsettling new example and raise new questions about American "hegemonism," he predicted.

The Bush administration's plans for military uses of space have been under intense scrutiny because of previous hints about taking a more assertive approach in this area. The proposed craft could easily be adapted to defend U.S. satellites or strike those of enemies, analysts say.

Mr. Rumsfeld and other senior officials have said the United States, with more satellites than any other country, needs to be able to defend those satellites. However, the project's supporters deny the craft marks a move to militarize space because its targets would be on Earth and it would not achieve a full orbit.

The Rumsfeld document, a study titled Guidance and Terms of Reference for the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, makes no reference to how much such a craft might cost, but analysts say that could be the biggest problem.

Prototype for a "Space Bomber":

The Pentagon's proposed "space bomber" is based on an experimental prototype developed by NASA and Lockheed Martin.

The X-33 was designed to take off vertically like a rocket and reach the upper atmosphere without disposable booster rockets. The Pentagon's proposed adaptation would fly 15 times faster and 10 times higher than current heavy bombers.

Flying through the upper atmosphere, the bomber could travel halfway around the world and return to its base in 90 minutes, gliding in to land like an airplane.

LAUNCH SITE: Edwards Air Force Base, California. Source: NASA, Dean Tweed.

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