US Strategic defence

[sigma]

It has been stated that the US wishes to place surface to air interceptor missiles in the UK as a line of defence from ICBM's from terrorist states.
Two questions,
1) What is the range of an ICBM
2) How far is it as the missile flies from Tehran to New York.
I have a suspicion that America lies outside the range of surface launched long range missiles.

[Clanad]

I don't thinks so... if you recall, the entire Cold War standoff was predicated on MAD (mutually assured destruction)... Missiles launched from Russia or her satellite countries were expected to reach major population centers of the U.S. in about 25 minutes. Only the U.S.' proposal to build and deploy "Star Wars" anti-misssile technology effectively ended the Cold War since Russia could not compete financially. (Thank you Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher). The short range anti-missle missles first deployed in Israel to coax them into non-reponse during the first Desert Storm against Iraq, were a new generation and not terribly effective. Reportedly, they have been greatly 'enhanced', as the military is wont to say...

[kempie]

The 500 or so Minuteman III ICBMs in the US arsenal are claimed to have a range in excess of 6,000 miles.

New York City is situated about 6,100 miles from Tehran and all of Iran lies between 5,680 miles and 7,070 miles from NYC.

[sigma]

In response to your answers, any attack on the US by Russia or satalite countries would pass over the North Pole and not over the UK. Secondly it seems doubtful that Iraq would have the capabilities of launching a direct missile attack on the US. Any attack by China or North Korea would be over the Pacific so why the need to place interceptor missiles in the UK?

[sigma]

sorry, Iran not Iraq

[con-amca]

I thought it was Blair that wanted the missiles in Britain, not the U.S. I seem to remember reading, or hearing, that the
Americans want to install them in Czechoslovakia or Poland.

[Toureman]

Hi CLANAD,

I was close to Lockheed Martin who manufactured the Phased Array Tracking intercept of Target system (Patriot).

In Desert Storm they were only deployed to pacify the Israelis, they did not intercept any scuds at all. No doubt theyt work properly now.

You will find a lot of the UK population are pacifists who do not want anything to do with war.

The sooner we get your Anti ICBMs missiles stationed here in the UK the safer I will feel, Iran is not the only country that would like to nuke the West.but the UK government will probably set up a commitee to vote on who would press the button, the ICBMs will have already hit their targets before they have made their minds up.

[kwicky]

Why does the USA want to install these interceptors in countries other than their own? They could easily shoot them down into the ocean from their own shores. Why do they want to put them into countries bordering Russia when they know it can cause friction? You can only come to the conclusion that they see any future missile wars are best handled away from the USA. And TB is a prat for not seeing through their schemes.