A (literally?) CRUSTY U.S. American just scorned my impeccable French hygienic habits and refined toiletterie accessories, saying: "On top of all this the French are rude and do not shower frequently!". Now I'm miffed:

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/050921_dirty_hands.html

http://www.webmd.com/news/20060828/2-out-of-3-americans-dont-wash-hands

Son, don't go near the Cowboys
Please stay away.
Son, don't go near the Cowboys.
Please do what I say...

Posted by: freefallingbomb at February 24, 2008 08:04 PM

re: Freefallingbomb

Your rather a bit mouthy for a citizen of a post-colonial has-been country that hasn't won a battle since Napoleon, builds crappy cars, has the WORST airport in the world (CDG), and lives in fear of Arab branleurs.

On top of all this the French are rude and do not shower frequently!

Vous péter plus haut que son cul, monsieur!

Do you not have ample problems in your own country to occupy your own obviously ample time?

A la votre,
Chef B.

Posted by: Old Crusty Chief at February 24, 2008 03:14 PM

He's rather ignorant for a Frenchman.

-DA

Posted by: DarthAmerica at February 24, 2008 09:45 AM

Hi "Maxtrue"!

Simply sensational: You jumped against an open door and flew right through all your glass roofs afterwards...

1) You, an U.S. American (!), must really be a TROLL to accuse China

a) of using up all the World's resources,
b) of being a major polluter,
c) even of prejudicing its own population's health. Watch Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" or Morgan Spurlock's documentary "Super Size Me", just for example! Under an "evil" Communist Chinese government, all your corrupt politicians responsible for such (U.S. American) health scandals would be AUTOMATICALLY , EXPEDITELY AND PUBLICLY E-X-E-C-U-T-E-D !!! But I believe that you, as a good = brain-washed, main-streamed, triple-checked, sheepish, obedient, completely acritical, clueless U.S. American citizen even consider lobbying a "100 % legal and respectable" "profession", RIGHT ?
d) accusing China of "maybe, eventually" not building exactly intensity-10-earthquake-proof dams (you must be from New Orléans to talk like that)
Do you have any idea of how often other U.S. Americans denounce the DECREPIT state of your whole nation's infrastructures and public transports in other Internet discussion forums, including, to my surprise, a bizarre habit of yours of allegedly building WOODEN homes in hurricane-affected and coastal areas?? (Is that TRUE or just Chinese Propaganda?)
and
e) of accusing China of any "shocking social inequalities". Once again: And that coming from Y-O-U U.S. American, of all people, who lives in a country where 2 % of the population own 80 % of the country's wealth, a country that lets millions of cancer-sick poor die painfully along months, like abandoned dogs, instead of offering them even a SINGLE pill, a country that even officially refuses to diagnose the mysterious disease symptoms of its glorified 11/9 and Iraq I heroes (!) correctly, etc. etc. etc. etc. - don't even get me started! (But I bet that you see no wrong in all that, "patriot")

Please spare me from posting here the rest of the statistics about your dear Capitalist U.S.A. "where the streets are paved with gold", because these statistics are already considered "very general culture", practically a subconscious awareness everywhere.

Even if the U.S.A. came in only "second worst" after China in all these aspects, don't you really have no other national indicators to promote the U.S.A.?

And crying out loud against the "continued oppression of (China's) people with a criminal justice system based on torture" (the name of that Chinese Guantánamo concentration camp, please?) while your own criminal President invades two countries for oil like a vulgar gas station robber, showing total contempt for ALL international Law and basic human morality and decency, but is so famously moronic that he naturally achieves the extreme opposite effect, and murders and tortures over 600.000 innocent civilians in the process? I know, you always keep forgetting that. Like everybody else on this Web-site too. No: You all like to dismiss these facts as... "mere Politics"!
(Are you all maybe Neocon propagandists at the Pentagon impatiently waiting for your shifts to end, to catch the last bus? "Cyber-warriors"?)

And in relation to that West Side Story musical of "The only real way to match the US, is to reflect the diversity and competitiveness of not only America": Is this how the Germans, the Japanese and the Soviets rivalled and often even outdid you U.S. Americans between 1914 and 2008 in nearly all sectors of contemporary top technology (simply all projects they really threw themselves at), thanks to their famous "multi-racial culture", "de-centralized approach", "the flag follows the deal", "opportunities" and of course thanks to that completely indispensable ingredient, the "free entrepreneurship" (big fart) ? Is this how European, Japanese, Chinese and all the other cultures came into existence in the first place?

So what if in 2008 the best U.S. American military technology is STILL a notch or two ahead of China's? (Did that save you from them in Korea and Vietnam? Even we French resisted longer in Vietnam than you did, and without losing a whopping 12.000 helicopters like you!) Do you really believe that the Chinese will need to repeat every single step from Lilienthal's gliders to the Space Shuttle sequentially to invent aeroplanes soon whose revolutionary physical principles you don't even imagine? Do I maybe ignore some dead-line to reveal any last new military inventions or what? Because if there is such a thing, then let me remind you that you U.S. Americans wore the very same helmets which we French slapped on your heads in the First World War for the next 20 years before inventing your own ones, you ingrates. Back then we even had to teach most U.S. American farm-boys not to dress two left or two right boots - it was the first time somebody gave them boots to wear - and now you're crying out loud again for us "frogs" to rescue your precious skins in Afghanistan, to save you from the terrible Bin Laden boogeyman which you yourselves armed! But don't worry: We'll catch him for you, oh yeah! We just didn't do it till now to avoid embarrassing you too much... What on Earth would even be of you U.S. Americans today without our grandiose French military Power? I'll gladly remind you what: Subjects to the Queen!
Give China a little time, just give it time... If there is ONE country that can (and probably will...) exceed you in simply all areas, it's CHINA ! We French call this refined art of fortune-telling "a trend".
But pretty soon, when the Chinese take over all the World's Economy, and the only job left for you in the U.S.A. is to pose as a cowboy or Indian for the occasional elderly Chinese tourist woman, for a tip, we talk again.

2) "(China) consumes more energy than America".

LOGICALLY , OF COURSE , but what on Earth did you expect?? (Or was this meant to be a joke?) The Chinese are 4,3 times more people than the U.S. Americans, and they work hard to enjoy a similar life style or even a better one than you have. Did you really expect ONE QUARTER of Humanity to spend less energy than the U.S.A., forever, unfazed? (Oh those U.S. Americans... SINCERELY )

Prepare to share, fraternally, like good Christians, to be humble. People might just stop plinking reflexively at you outside your borders!
Just one of a MILLION examples: By selling U.S. American A.I.D.S. drugs for only 350 $ or less (as the Socialist Marxist Indians do) instead of for your pretended 7.200 $, so that the 36 million A.I.D.S. victims world-wide can survive longer, oh "great friends and benefactors of Humanity"!

3) "America should stop buying all the useless crap made with slave labor that's putting toxins in the air."

a) You don't decide that. Every consumer decides for him/herself, what s/he wants to pick from the supermarkets' shelves. Start pretending that you believe in your own Capitalism-marketing slogans like "the country of Freedom, of free trade, of free initiative", bla bla bla, OK?
b) Hey, why not join the rest of the World and sign that Kyoto Treaty before hypocritically patronizing others to keep this planet clean (mainly from YOUR garbage), "Mr. Clean Face"?

4) "keeping China from tripling the unrest that already besets it"

The persistent, ox-like dullness of U.S. Americans in face of such national tragedies like the assassination of the two Kennedys, the Israeli attack on the "U.S.S. Liberty", the Israeli 11/9 false-flag attack and the Iraqi W.M.D. hoax etc. is infinitely more consternating and ominous than the grievances of pitchfork-wielding Chinese farmers, you laughable hypocrite!

5) "We should tighten up our security and demand China play a bigger role in policing the world"

LOL! If the U.S.A. have completely different strategic interests in the World than everybody else, from the Chinese down to us French etc. (actually, the Chinese hardly even have any regional ambitions, like we don't), then the U.S.A. should naturally pay the expenses for the defense of their global interests alone, of course. We also pay to defend our own diminute interests abroad. There are no free lunches, not for me, not for you. If you can't afford the same life-style anymore, adapt.

6) "ending their support of genocide and extremists"

Ha ha ha ha...!
OR W-H-A-T ?? Or you fill out another triplicate complaint form at the U.N.O., as you did for 74 years against the "evil" Soviets??
Need a pen?

7) "Perhaps their first men/women to set foot on the moon, will be the first Chinese to actually be free."

The first Chinese on the Moon will wear military uniforms, erase Neil Armstrong's first footprint on the Moon and trample down the U.S. American flag planted in the southern "Sea of Tranquility", all that live on TV.

Remember then: It was just some flag from a country that no longer exists.

Posted by: freefallingbomb at February 24, 2008 03:08 AM

Can someone please help me remember why it was that we saved the French (twice) last century?

If the French would stick to their strengths: food, wine, and lovemaking we'd be far better off as a whole than when they fiddle with things they are just so demonstrably awful: engineering, politics, and warfighting. (Veuillez me pardonner, Byron.)

Freefallingbomb is a perfect example of why I love France but so often just can't stand the French. He/She is likely just a clacqeur for the PCF; IOW just a useful idiot for the Communist Party in France.

Are you are anything like the KKE (Communist Party of Greece) stooges I knew when I lived in Greece? Arrogant little gobshites whose primary achievements were plastering the towns with snazzy posters, spray painting the hammer-and-sickle everywhere, and being generally uncivilized at rallies and marches. Mind you, among all the invective about the horrors of capitalist society, the evil that is America, and the promise of a Worker's Paradise, among all these these things what stands out is the image of youths singing the Internationale in their designer clothes, smoking Marlboros, and driving BMWs.

Cheers Comrades,
Chief B.

Posted by: Old Crusty Chief at February 23, 2008 06:32 AM

Wow, does FreeFall actually believe this stuff?

China represents the world's biggest disparity between poor and rich and the trade advantage FreeFall rails against is about the only thing keeping China from tripling the unrest that already besets it. It consumes more energy than America and pollutes the world far more causing enormous health problems for its own citizens. The sad truth is that if we listened to many of the valid points FreeFall makes about enabling the Communist Party of China (which Obama/Hillary or McCain might very well do) the freefall in China will produce serious problems for their leadership.

As far as the superiority of Japanese technology and soon, Chinese technology is part myth, and, in fact a bit racist. America has put together amazing individuals of many ethnic backgrounds and leads in hundreds on fronts. Of course, commerical applications tends to divert us here, unlike China controlled by authoritarian control, but the lack of diversity and competition makes the Chinese Defense sector dependent on others as well as spies. They loan us money so we continue to buy their crap (not bad if you want that stuff, but Mexico could make the same with the proper diversion of funding).

You can count on what you saw a few days ago as beneath our state of the art. While China tries to make a top fighter, I suspect we're moving past Raptors into the scram area. The only real way to match the US, is to reflect the diversity and competitiveness of not only America, but Allies which include the Japanese, Brits, Australians, Canadians, Israelis, and even the French, all sharing something Chinese leaders are afriad of.

A big burden on the Chinese is the growing world apprehension of its gobbling up resources, arming despots and madmen and the continued oppression of its people with a criminal justice system based on torture and whim. I doubt Russians are quite thrilled either. Not great PR comes out of China these days with the Olympics approaching. China can't even thwart a rogue NK on its border, and an invasion of their neighbor would bring sanctions shutting down their needed high growth rate.

In any case, China's planners couldn't even anticipate the fallout of their ASAT test lewt alone the debris. But FreeFall is right. America should stop buying all the useless crap made with slave labor that's putting toxins in the air. We should send out a loud signal that the consumerism driving China's GDP is quite stupid. We should tighten up our security and demand China play a bigger role in policing the world, ending their support of genocide and extremists, open up its society to the free expression of thought and liberty.

Somehow FreeFall has only a narrow dialectic to advance, instead of taking a good look at the dynamic in China threatening to unravel it, the extremism on its borders, the longing of its people as it continues to be the greatest example of poor v rich, elite v deprived. And of course China better hope an earthquake doesn't drown millions in their great dam project. Perhaps their first men/women to set foot on the moon, will be the first Chinese to actually be free.

Of course, that is America's greatest weapon and something China's leadership most fears.

Posted by: Maxtrue at February 22, 2008 10:32 PM

To the poster "slntax": You wrote: "The reality is that the Chinese are using every method possible to steal American military tech for a future war with Taiwan. Dont believe me?"
and
"I say actions speak louder then words"

You're a classical victim of what I call "the chicken-thief syndrome": If you spot a typical bum reaching into a fine dressed shopper's pockets (wanting money for food) you reflexively howl "Grab that thief!", but if you read for example a headline in a shop-window saying that your company's or your bank's etc. famous W.A.S.P. C.E.O. retired, quit or even got fired for incompetence, with a 100 million dollar pension ("compensation"), you don't even think a single second about it and stroll on leisurely, minding your own life.
Your revolt against "Chinese spies" only reveals the same grass-root perspective:

1) In the '60s the U.S.A. kick-started Japan's post-War economical ascent (creating a chimera in the process) by placing large orders to the oozing Japanese heavy industry (ammunition and other items for the Vietnam War, because of their favourable geographical location and low wages, back then). In the following decades, the Japanese were initially accused of manufacturing only cheapish, kitschy, sloppy, short-lived goods, especially of being "copy cats" of every possible Western gadget. Today, I believe, the U.S.A. wouldn't really mind trading all their industrial secrets and patents for the Japanese ones. Do the Japanese spy on the U.S.A. or... the other way around? Things change...
Lesson learned, lesson forgotten, now the U.S.A. insist on repeating the same mistake with China too. Their economical miracle is still only 20 years young, therefore China STILL can't compete honestly with U.S. American, European or even with Japanese quality products (which include, as you pointed out, weapons = top technology), relying on huge outputs of cheap goods instead, exploiting especially the "advantage" of their own ultra-low wages. That's why it still makes ( EXTREMELY short-sighted...) sense for the U.S.A., for Europe and for Japan to outsource the production of all labour-intensive, low-tech stuff ("slave work") to China, retaining only the design bureaus and labs in their countries of origin. But Chinese genes are the same as Japanese genes, their perfectionism is the same, only their History was different. The Chinese are also 10,4 times more people (= a larger internal market that helps national companies grow and evolve before going abroad) and China itself is 25,4 times bigger than Japan (= more material autarky = more political independence + more price stability, etc.). And on the day the Chinese know exactly as much as the Japanese do, they'll be even MORE advanced and richer than the Japanese, because their bigger critical mass allows them to engage in MORE large national projects of ANY nature! In simple words: Having the same knowledge, the Chinese will have the same QUALITY , but simultaneously MORE QUANTITY OF IT than the Japanese!
Maybe that explains too how the first Chinese A.S.A.T. test-shot was an immediate success...
But who is fomenting = worsening this "game", helping the Chinese to become that very monster that's going to destroy all our descendants' - even the Japanese's! - life-styles and perspectives, in the next two or three generations?
Mainly YOU U.S. Americans (again...), YOUR OWN elected, "loving", "patriotic", "impeccable", "born again" politicians to be precise ("the people's democratic representatives, throbbing with Fatherland Love"), each time they give the Chinese unfair trade advantages: From constantly pardoning instead of confiscating imports in excess of the agreed quotas to agreeing to trade IMbalances and different trade rules in the first place to not forcing them to reduce highly CO2-emitting industries the way we do, etc. etc. etc., and all this under the immutable spell of the "sanctity, infallibility and untouchability of Capitalism"!
I can't even MENTALLY CONCEIVE what drives your politicians to deprive their own nation, even their own personal kids and everybody else too potentially of a future (of a survival?), when every small man on the street already understood the absurdity of this course!!!
(Same goes for that other open secret called the "North American Union" too...)
What, do you think, is this all leading up to?
So, before (unjustly or impulsively) accusing any Chinese Commerce Attaché or old, loyal Chinese Physics professor in the U.S.A. of "High Treason" or before saying "actions speak louder than words" again, make a step back and see the larger frame!

Hey smart U.S. Americans: After Japan and China, don't you want to do the same with India, Brazil and Russia too, next time?

2) The U.S.A. and all their Anglo lackays run the biggest world-wide espionage network in History themselves since the '60s, called "Echelon" = LONG BEFORE MOST "AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS" TODAY WERE EVEN BORN (so don't come to me with that "Terrorism" boogeyman for U.S. Americans), only to spy on EVERY nation's on Earth private, industrial, trade, diplomatic and military secrets, even now, after the Cold War is over, but you protest against the Chinese "using every method possible to steal American military tech" ?? What's the matter: Don't you like a bit of reciprocality? Not even a little bit...?

It's on those occasions that we French aptly say: A good conscience is just the back side of a bad memory!

The U.S.A. and their scabious lap dogs, the British, also used the British "Vodaphone" telecom giant to bug the mobile phones of all ministers from two "old" European countries & N.A.T.O. member states (!), and when two non-Anglo "Vodaphone" experts stumbled upon the rigged software, they simply assassinated them in cold blood, here in continental Europe, before erasing the spyware:

http://breakfornews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=617

Sorry to break it to you, but the "blond-baby-head-eating" Communist Chinese NEVER EVER EVEN TRIED a similar stunt against us Europeans!

These two facts and many many other reasons (especially what appears to me to be the subreptitious preparation of an unmotivated, mad as a hatter, Creation-threatening nuclear first strike from you Anglos against Russia and China: The present encircling of Russia with A.B.M. missiles) convince me, in the full possession of my mental faculties, that the next and most urgent (World?) war needn't be carried out against any distant, big, prospering, peaceful Extreme Oriental countries with Capitalist economies, NOOO , but against your whole mangled, medieval, war-mongering Anglo tribe!

And in relation to TOTAL DOMESTIC ESPIONAGE , as layed out by the current Orwellian U.S. President & his gang PERSONALLY : Communist China can ONLY LEARN EVERY DIRTY TRICK about that from your "World's biggest Democracy" as well! But I bet that that doesn't disturb none of you. You're probably even so used to living in a cage that you deride those who flee from the U.S.A. to live in comparatively freer countries, in the U.S.A.'s "worst enemy" countries for example.

Posted by: freefallingbomb at February 22, 2008 09:26 PM

Bravo Zulu to the Lake Erie. It raised eyebrows because it is another success in a long list of accomplishments this system, Period.

Hegemonic - Simply: Big job! I wish someone else would do it. Japan and Germany tried to our disappointment.
Please stick to Military Tech contributions if you have them and leave your misunderstanding of Economics out of the talking points. I beg you.
Parting thought: Marx made capitalism the success it is today.

Posted by: Blake at February 22, 2008 11:12 AM

Freefallingbomb,

We already knew you were ignorant of military matters but it seems that you are also ignorant of economics as well. Please, tone down your rhetoric and try to pay attention to what is going on. Otherwise you arent even worth a response.

-DA

Posted by: DarthAmerica at February 22, 2008 05:58 AM

Good shot, good kill. I worked on that project back in the late '90s and knew we had something that was going to work, even with the usual fits and starts.

As for the America as Chinese province commentary, I'd point out the obvious - if there was no America to rail against, it'd be hard to whip the proletariat into shape with visions of taking on the Great American boogeyman. Same deal with Russia. Anyways, gonna be a mighty interesting Summer Olympics. Kinda hard to whitewash the streets with that many foreigners around...

Posted by: Okach at February 22, 2008 03:10 AM

Congrats to a job well done to the US Navy.

Posted by: Takeo at February 22, 2008 01:40 AM

Prob left the warhead off as well to be able to more thoroughly confirm the Hydrazine destruction. Based on the Gen.'s comments about what they were analyzing it sounds like they wanted one explosion source, one fire source, one vapor cloud source to be able to really confirm the hit and damage assessment.

Posted by: Vince at February 21, 2008 11:24 PM

freefallingbomb

you are right. however just because the chinese are capitialist. doesnt mean that all the sudden we are best friends. i mean the nazis embraced capitialism. the reality is that the chinese are using every method possible to steal american military tech for a future war for tawian. dont believe me? check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11R5Pgrivko

story on feb 8 chinese spy tries to steal tech from a c-17
http://www.ocregister.com/money/chung-china-chinese-1983494-space-technology

people say that have problems understanding chinas long term military and politcal goals. i say actions speak louder then words.

Posted by: slntax at February 21, 2008 10:32 PM

What's the need for an expensive & extensive GMD network when the Aegis equipped destroyers can do the same?

What can the GMD do that the Aegis system cannot?

Posted by: syntax at February 21, 2008 09:19 PM

To the poster "slntax": You wrote: "HAHA now the chicoms want data on the navy strike."

You're right: It's apparently a preposterous, abusive claim. But aren't you overlooking something in your jolliness, maybe some... "small" detail? The question here isn't a legal one, but one of raw Power Politics! The dollar kills and conquers even more people today than any weaponry, and the Chinese already hold the future of the entire U.S. American Economy in their hands... You U.S. Americans WANTED both the Soviets and the Communist Chinese to become GOOD Capitalists, remember? You DREAMT about it during the whole Cold War and even helped them afterwards to jump-start the conversion of their Marxist economies with massive loans from several international finantial institutions, even replacing such cautious, prudent reformers like Gorbachev and rejecting all transitional reform steps as "unnecessary" (and "unnecessary" they were...). Now compliment the Communists for being such good pupils and don't change the rules in the middle of your own favourite national game! So, as I already said, the key issue here isn't so much whether the Chinese have a full right to know ALL your country's military and industrial secrets or not (actually they HAVE that unabridged right, as legitimate owners / major institutional share-holders of most U.S. American hi-tech businesses. They can do whatever they want with you, even tell you to go work tomorrow in some small dusty office in Central Mongolia), the only question here is whether the U.S.A., hopelessly indebted to China, are already a satellite (State) of Beijing, a Hong Kong-type "special administrative region of the People's Republic of China" or a downright Chinese province or... not quite yet! And why even fight your inevitable destiny, if the U.S. American Economy is in dire need of a little bit of good Communist Chinese growth?

Believe me: The clever Communists have absolutely NO use for the blue-prints of that stupid "S.M.-3 Standard Missile". You might as well convert those Aegis destroyers into floating Chinese restaurants. It's all but a test of the U.S.A.'s present ductility. The Chinese zapped their own satellite
1) last year
and
2) at THRICE or more the altitude of yesterday's much-dramatized interception,
and
3) it was even their VERY FIRST test!

So, why is everybody in such a hysterical mood today?

Meanwhile, the Russian nukes were also fitted with M.A.R.V.'s and the Chinese are currently working on them too, and you need NUCLEAR-tipped A.B.M.-missiles - tactical nukes - not to miss those, even THAT being a questionable business... The "S.M.-3 Standard Missile"'s "great success" yesterday - oh yeah! - came uh... maybe 20 years too late. Congratulations nevertheless to everybody! Now back to your beers!

Posted by: freefallingbomb at February 21, 2008 07:29 PM

Thanks for the detail, Jim. And dig the Filter reference, Grandjester. Rock on.

Posted by: Ward at February 21, 2008 04:00 PM

Didn't they originally have to postpone the launch because of a rough sea state?

Posted by: FOARP at February 21, 2008 03:40 PM

This is just great! Why can't we take all this wasted money on this successful defense technology project that make offensive nuclear weapons questionably useful and dump the billions of dollars into failure social programs and wealth redistribution schemes? I for one want to know why can't we just learn to stick our heads in the sand with dignity and like our intellectually superior friends. (fallingdumbbombbucket or whatever) After all it would be less offensive to everyone. Maybe the Chinese won't be forced to steal our technology and we won't have to continue to finance the rebuilding of Russia's Northern fleet through misappropriated treaty funds. That's it, a new treaty. That will fix everything!

You know, its just these kinds of in-your-face successes that turns everyone again us Americans. If we defend ourselves it will only make matters worse?

2 ways to minimize this success:
1. The SM3 is only one small success in the on-going arms race that existed long before the cold war.
2. Considering the SM3 is only one piece of the multi-layered ABM systems now in development, our foes should take comfort in the fact that we haven't been able to shrink the anti-matter death ray to a usable platform, yet.

Posted by: Blake at February 21, 2008 02:57 PM

Politics aside, Thats gonna be a heck of a battle star on the side of the USS Lake Erie. I wonder if the crew will attach a broom to her mast when she sails into Pearl?

Posted by: NTV at February 21, 2008 02:16 PM

How can this be? As we've been told time and time again by DefenseTech, missile defense spending is an utter waste of time and money.

Posted by: John at February 21, 2008 01:22 PM

>>>Actually Foreign Boy if you count it that way it would be China 1 US 2 since we already destroyed one in the 1980s<<<

Actually the USA and Russia(USSR) have conducted dozens of successful ASAT test since the late 1950s! China is far behind both. This is why both Russia and China want a treaty to protect themselves since they can't do it technologically.

-DA

Posted by: DarthAmerica at February 21, 2008 01:17 PM

Space race is on? I think China basically launched Sputnik last year, and we - by comparison - just put the finishing touches on the ISS.

I'd argue that our sea-launched, 10-second launch window, direct-hit of an object in decaying orbit, with a standard missile with only software mods EASILY trumps China's ground-based, 24-hour launch window, direct-hit of a object in stationery orbit, with a dedicated ASAT weapon.

In fact, I think we just proved that our billions of dollars in the missile shield has successfully developed ... a missile shield.

Given the dynamics, what's the difference between that satellite and an ICBM?

Posted by: Dan at February 21, 2008 01:01 PM

you guys are amazing. kudos for shooting down a billion dollar failure? And chicoms? welcome to 1956, sintax.

Posted by: thereisnorule6 at February 21, 2008 12:27 PM

Actually Foreign Boy if you count it that way it would be China 1 US 2 since we already destroyed one in the 1980s

Posted by: FoxThree at February 21, 2008 12:14 PM

I like how he named the vessel, pride of the sailors and all. - plus that's where I live so it's kinda cool.

The good thing about the US here is that we don't know just how Good our spies really are -they might be great!
The bad thing about the US here is that we don't know just how Bad our spies really are - they might suck!

So maybe our spies are better... maybe not. But you just never really hear about it at my (low) level.

Posted by: Patron Vectras at February 21, 2008 12:07 PM

Shouldn't this title be
China 1, US 1?
Since they both smacked down both their own satellites?

Posted by: Foreign.Boy at February 21, 2008 12:06 PM

HAHA now the chicoms want data on the navy strike.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080221073800.tgg06ozy&show_article=1

like they would every give up information on their asat strike. im sure if bilary was in charge she would sell it to them for the campaign coffers.

Posted by: slntax at February 21, 2008 12:03 PM

Hey man, Nice shot!

Posted by: Grandjester at February 21, 2008 11:06 AM

With a combined impact velocity near or above 10000 meters per second, it doesn't need a warhead. The kenetic energy alone is enough. Just to give an example of this type of killing mechanism. SABOT rounds used to kill targets as tough as main battle tanks don't have warheads either.

Posted by: DarthAmerica at February 21, 2008 11:05 AM

The space weapons race is on. I now believe that the chinese only attacked that sat because they knew the US was modifying SM-3 missiles for the same task.

Just like the russians and the space race. Our tech is better, but their spies are betterthan ours.

Posted by: Joe at February 21, 2008 11:04 AM

Great Job to the Contractors and Defense Companies too....

Posted by: psece at February 21, 2008 11:01 AM

Ward -

Most missile defense interceptors don't have warheads. When your collision velocity is in the high single digits of kilometers per second, momentum does all the work. Kinetic energy of this impact was equivalent to ~200lbs of TNT. Who needs an extra 10 pounds of explosive taking up valuable payload mass?

Posted by: Jim at February 21, 2008 10:20 AM

Now we know it works, lets expand on this.
Great job, kudos to missile ship crew & Missile Team.
Great job.

Posted by: stephen russell at February 21, 2008 09:33 AM