The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master

Raymond was actually mentally prepared for Admiral Lord's request.

In fact, the Air Force Space Command has been trying to get involved in the Sea-Based Standard 3 system for a long time.

Moreover, they did seize the opportunity of China's test-launch of anti-ship ballistic missiles and obtained in-principle approval from both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military and political lines of the Ministry of National Defense.

Even the Navy itself, considering that it is difficult for the Aegis system alone to provide complete missile mid-course flight data, relaxed slightly due to technical considerations——

As a ship-borne weapon, it is of course impossible for Standard 3 to be completely controlled by the Air Force. It will never be possible in this life.

However, they agreed to Lord's previous request for "unified access and joint command."

Considering that the U.S. Air Force was essentially born out of the Army, this is definitely a huge concession.

"To be honest, I am really grateful to the Chinese people."

As Lord spoke, he leisurely picked up the wine bottle, poured a glass of sparkling wine for himself and Raymond, and then drank the glass:

"If they hadn't conducted such a targeted test launch, we might have been arguing about this for a long time..."

As an Air Force officer in charge of strategic nuclear forces, although he holds a high position and has a higher voice than the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in certain situations, his presence is not actually strong.

Especially after the Cold War, with the double reduction in the number of nuclear weapons and nuclear vehicles, and the sudden reduction in the visible probability of a world war, the status of the Air Force Space Command gradually began to shake.

Correspondingly, funding levels have also dropped again and again.

The new research funding within the National Missile Defense Program is far less than the losses caused by the retirement of the LGM-118 Peacekeeper missile and the cancellation of the new generation land-based intercontinental ballistic missile program.

But with what we are doing now, even if we are not able to leave a mark in history, we can at least leave a mark in the history of the U.S. Air Force——

Great America Favor text: "Air Force General Lance Lord used a sea-based missile defense system to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles"

However, compared to Lord, who was already immersed in beautiful fantasies, Raymond, as a relatively junior officer, obviously considered the problem more concretely.

He did not pick up the wine glass immediately, but rubbed the mouth of the glass with his knuckles for a while:

"General, if you want to respond with a targeted missile interception, how should the target missile be selected?"

A question directly stopped Lord, who had raised the corners of his mouth——

Indeed, this is a very real problem.

Since we want to target it, the best thing is to intercept an identical or similar medium-range missile.

But because the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed that year, the United States does not have a model of the same level as the China Dongfeng 21.

Of course, this is not the first time that a missile defense system has been tested, but in the past there were basically only two types of target missiles.

One is to use a combination of the Minuteman 3, which is about to be retired, and the old Polaris, to completely simulate an intercontinental ballistic missile target.

However, the interception of this kind of target missile is too difficult. Even for the GBI interceptor missile with the longest range and the largest size, the success rate is never more than half.

Standard 3 has been demolished and restarted once before due to a failed test launch, and it is really not suitable to directly challenge the big boss.

The second difficulty level is suddenly reduced, which is to directly use the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) supporting the M270 rocket launcher as the interception target.

In the case of high ballistics, the height can basically enter the standard 3 interception comfort zone.

It's easy to hit this thing with a pinch, but it doesn't seem to be a deterrent.

After all, the terminal speed is only about 3-4 times the speed of sound, even similar to some faster aircraft...

Lorde stopped smiling and sat back on the chair.

This is the first battle for me to command Sea-Based Standard 3, and I must do it to perfection.

Otherwise, you will become a clown.

"you're right……"

His eyes quickly scanned the news briefing in front of him:

"The first batch of mass-produced standard 3block1A for testing has left the factory and will be deployed on the USS Shiloh guided missile cruiser immediately. It will arrive in the waters of eastern Japan at the end of the month to temporarily develop new target missiles. It’s definitely too late to change the model based on it…”

For a moment, the only sound left in the huge office was the breathing of two people.

"I have a half-baked idea."

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Raymond raised his head first:

"However, we need to call our aerospace equipment database first..."

Lord was stunned after hearing this, but immediately pointed to the phone on the edge of his desk and signaled the other party to contact the archives department.

After making two consecutive phone calls, Raymond strode out of the commander's office, but soon left and returned.

This time, I had an extra folder in my hand, and the excitement on my face couldn’t be wiped off:

"General Lord, look!"

As he spoke, he opened the information and placed it in front of Lord:

“In 1991, NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office cooperated to launch an Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) from the Space Shuttle Discovery, nominally to study the physical and chemical processes of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and troposphere, and to monitor the ozone layer The evolution process of the void, but it is actually equipped with two sets of high-resolution Doppler imaging equipment for ground and sea reconnaissance, so it has also been registered with us. "

"Coincidentally, this satellite was decommissioned at the end of its life in December last year. It has completed system passivation, but it is still operating in an orbit with an altitude of 585km and an inclination of 57° to the equator. It plans to adjust to a lower altitude next month. configuration track.”

The latter quickly glanced at the parameter table on the information, and the expression on his face softened:

"This orbital altitude is just close to that of a medium-range ballistic missile that we could use as a target."

When I said this, I didn't use a questioning tone.

Due to similar principles of action, almost all mid-course interceptors outside the atmosphere have anti-satellite capabilities——

Of course, since the orbit of the satellite is relatively fixed, the difficulty of anti-satellite is still slightly lower than that of actually intercepting missiles.

But it's better than messing things up with an ATACM.

Moreover, even if it is a real anti-missile test, in order to ensure the most basic success rate, the ballistic parameters must be disclosed to the interceptor.

"It's more than that."

Raymond turned over another page of information:

"UARS is very large, weighing nearly five tons. Therefore, after adjusting to the configured orbit, it is very likely that it will not be completely burned when it finally falls into the atmosphere, and there is still some unused toxic fuel and debris inside. There is a significant risk of injury if it falls to the ground."

"The Standard 3 warhead is a kinetic energy interceptor. Even if some fragments are generated after the impact, they will quickly fall into the atmosphere due to the sudden decrease in speed. This time we do not directly mention anti-missile, but use it to eliminate space missiles. Conducting tests in the name of the risk of a missile crashing will not only reduce the diplomatic pressure it faces, but it can even prepare public opinion for the future deployment of space-based anti-satellite weapons.”

Lord's originally calm face showed joy.

This kills two birds with one stone, which is simply wonderful.

After the end of the Cold War, the Air Force Space Command, with a deepening sense of crisis, has been seeking new sources of large funding.

In addition to the missile defense system that is currently being advanced, another major direction of effort is space weapons.

However, subject to the restrictions of the Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, relevant research can only be conducted under other names and in private.

This will not only affect the speed of project advancement, but also affect the efficiency of their interest groups to make money from it.

"This is a good idea!"

Without too long of entanglement, Admiral Lord quickly made a decision:

"You should contact NASA first and ask them to stop the deorbiting operation of this satellite. We will wait until we come up with a specific interception plan..."

"In addition, press the previous test plan and ask the staff office of the Space Operations Center to hold a meeting in the afternoon to formulate a new anti-satellite combat plan in detail and report it to the Air Force Headquarters as soon as possible!"