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<em>Roland</em>-class destroyer Oct 2004
Compensator failure Oct 2004
The status of the Lynx System Oct 2004
The Union of Monica Oct 2004
Why does Mesa still exist? Oct 2004
LACs towing counter-missile pods Oct 2004
Strategic map as of <em>Shadow of Saganami</em> Sep 2004
Variable geometry starships Sep 2004
Recon LACs Sep 2004
Powered missile pods Sep 2004

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Pearls of Weber

A collection of posts by David Weber containing background information for his stories, collected and generously made available Joe Buckley.

Hardening shipkiller missile drives

  • Series: Honorverse
  • Date: June 10, 2005

A suggestion has been made that it would make sense to put drives into shipkiller missiles of sufficient power to make them immune to wedge kill by a counter-missile. Is this practical? Could it be done as the final stage of a MDM?

 

No, it isn't. And it won't be -- ever. I believe we've had this discussion before. You cannot -- not "it would be hard," not "only possible with great difficulty," but cannot -- build a missile drive sufficiently powerful to take out another missile (or counter-missile) drive without being taken out itself. End of story. The physical size constraints make it impossible. That's why counter-missiles have used their impeller wedges as their primary missile-killing weapon for so long.