Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeKeR
oh btw can the CIWS take on an MIRV anti-ship missile? (i dunno if its really true as anti-ship missiles i know of are just cruise missiles and fighter jet based munitions like the harpoon missile)
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MIRV stands for
Multiple Independently-targeted Re-entry Vehicle. In other words, it's a missile-launched warhead that follows a high parabolic trajectory to hit strategic targets.
I've never heard of ICBMs and SLBMs carrying antiship missiles as MIRVs (MIRVs do
not have rocket engine - though they can more or less redirect their trajectory during reentry to confuse enemy antimissile systems like the Patriot or the high-hitting GBI) - it'd be a
very odd (and prohibitively expensive) way to deliver tactical weapons. I mean, what's the point in strapping a Harpoon or an Exocet to a Minuteman or a Trident D5?
I should nevertheless concede that the US Navy and DARPA are currently considering a project called ArcLight, which basically is a strange marriage between a MIRV-equivalent and a cruise missile; they plan to use a derivative of the Standard SM-3 and refit it with a detachable, supersonic, 200-300lbs explosive warhead/glider. If the program is not trashcanned like so many others, it could boast a 2,300 miles range capability, be launchable from either ship, submarine or bomber and offer a viable replacement for the Tomahawk (though I wonder whether the 200-300lbs warhead would be enough to replace the Tomahawk's 1,000lbs of PBXN-107).
And as for the earlier question, technically the CIWS can tackle the problem - they're programmed to face threats like the Dong Feng DF-21, the Exocet or the Sunburn, though the appearance of super/hypersonic missiles like the BrahMos could force the US Navy to prefer the SeaRAM, which is nothing more than a Phalanx CIWS that had its Vulcan cannon swapped with a RIM-116 RAM missile box.
P.S. Maybe we (starting with me, my bad) should cut a bit on the military talk - this topic is supposed to revolve around guns, after all...
