Question about satellites

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by James Langham

Both US and USSR will want to (and initially will have the capability to) take down French satellites. Also an airburst to induce EMP in France remains a high priority. French launches will not be easy either - getting the satellite to central Africa won't be easy (assuming that the facilities remain intact - a small nuke will soon stop that even if local conditions don't).

Lets assume this assumption is true.
What ASAT capabilities of both US and USSR would be by 1995?
What further ASAT capabilities would be added between 1995 and 1997?

I have given my own take on that but I would love to see your ideas on it. I can agree with whatever you all say but not until I know what you think these capabilities are.

By 1988, US ASAT program has been cancelled (15 missile inculding 5 used for trial) and USSR has cancelled its old ASAT program and replaced it by a ASAT missile program similar to the one cancelled by US. However, it only produced 6 missiles (at most and we are not even sure they worked). Was this still the case in T2K? If no, what further developments have been made? If yes, when did the programs were started over again and accelerated, changed and what did they produce?

At the time you had about 2000 working satellites in orbit. Won't they launch a few more with the perspective of war? If you assume US has not cancelled its ASAT program and fielded 112 missiles by 1995 and if you assume that an EMP burst destroy satellite in a radious of 80km (that is the figure I came up with from my reading but I can be wrong), how many satellite can they put down? Won't they focus on a certain type of satellite?

Please, I want more than one thinking on all these questions.

[ArmySGT.]

If you know your enemies radios, then you know the probable frequencies they will be using. If freq hopping harder sure. Still possible. Your not trying to decode it just follow it back.

Harder to get a receiver between the satellite and its ground receiving station. to get the best fix on the transmitter.

Just back trace the signal to the active satellite. Home on signal, kinetic kill weapon.

Now we can do it from an AEGIS destroyer, don't need an F-15 or B-52 to get the missile aloft.

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Now we can do it from an AEGIS destroyer, don't need an F-15 or B-52 to get the missile aloft.

I agree but in T2K that capability doesn't exist and never will.