Feasibility of kinetic orbital bombardment

• Published in: Journal of military studies Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Koene, L., Schouten, N.V.H., Savelsberg, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Helsinki Sciendo 01.12.2024; De Gruyter Poland
• Subjects: Altitude; atmospheric re-entry; Hohmann transfer; orbital bombardment; Rods from God; Science fiction & fantasy; Simulation; Tate–Alekseevskii penetration model; Velocity; Weapons of mass destruction; United States > US
• ISSN: 1799-3350; 2242-3524; 1799-3350
• DOI: 10.2478/jms-2024-0001

In this paper, the possible impact effects of orbital bombardment systems and their feasibility are studied. These effects are the projectile penetration into concrete and steel targets and seismic effects. The equations of motion for the re-entry of a projectile and the penetration were solved numerically. The projectile penetration is modelled using the Alekseevskii–Tate model. By varying the altitude ( ), projectile length ( ), manoeuvre velocity (Δ ) and the target properties, the flight time ( ), earthquake magnitude ( ) and penetration depth ( ) are calculated. The calculations show that the impact of a tungsten alloy rod with a length of 8 m and a 0.4 m diameter results in an earthquake with a seismic magnitude of only 2.5 on the Richter scale. For concrete, the optimal result is obtained for a projectile with a length of 0.56 m. It penetrates 1.79 m with a minimal Δ trajectory. These results show that a kinetic orbital bombardment system is not feasible without major technological developments, the impact angle being a bottleneck of the concept. Moreover, one has to accept very high costs. Without any means to change the attitude of the projectile, using ICBMs or bombers shows a better penetration performance than re-entry.