WI the Soviet Terra-3 laser crippled or destroyed Challenger?

A Mach 3 airplane that doesn't have to go outside the atmosphere helps you avoid the problems of re-entry. And, when the metal rods reach terminal velocity, they will still have quite an impact after traveling from such a high altitude. (Targeting is still a problem, though...)


an SR-71 can carry a telephone pole sized piece of tungsten?
 
Um, have you considered the weight of tungsten? It's almost twice the density of lead, so nothing you ever do is going to get a telephone pole sized piece of Tungsten off the ground, especially on something like the Blackbird.
 
Um, have you considered the weight of tungsten? It's almost twice the density of lead, so nothing you ever do is going to get a telephone pole sized piece of Tungsten off the ground, especially on something like the Blackbird.

The YF-12 had a nominal payload of 36 (metric) tons. Given the density of tungsten, that works out to 1.7 cubic meters.

Now, I don't know how big your telephone poll is, but the YF-12 can carry a pole that is 30 cm in diameter by 24 meters long - or, more probably, 2 or 3 shorter poles.
 
The YF-12 had a nominal payload of 36 (metric) tons. Given the density of tungsten, that works out to 1.7 cubic meters.

Now, I don't know how big your telephone poll is, but the YF-12 can carry a pole that is 30 cm in diameter by 24 meters long - or, more probably, 2 or 3 shorter poles.

WHAT??? 36 tons????

It had an empty weight of 27 ton, and a takeoff weight of 56 ton, so that's 29 ton available for fuel crew and weapons. It was designed to carry 3x AIM 47 missiles. Alot smaller than a telephone pole.

The only thing an F-12 could have ever done with a telephone pole is fly over it.
 
Thanks for pointing things out. The speed is good, but the weight would be a problem. (Not to mention the redesign...)
Now, if they had smaller "bricks", we'd just have to work out the damage they would do. (Or, we could have VERY high-speed "dumb bombs" or "Smart Bombs" instead. Ben Rich wished they had tested Air-Ground weapons on the SR-71...)
 
WHAT??? 36 tons????

It had an empty weight of 27 ton, and a takeoff weight of 56 ton, so that's 29 ton available for fuel crew and weapons. It was designed to carry 3x AIM 47 missiles. Alot smaller than a telephone pole.

The only thing an F-12 could have ever done with a telephone pole is fly over it.

Wikipedia said takeoff weight of 63 tons => 36 tons of pay load. I guess I did forget the fuel, which could definitely be significant.
 
Top