May 17, 201313 yr Terrible and beautiful. Curious wide retractable blast deflector in USS Lake Erie. No hit-to-kill technology. And remembrances of the Apollo program launches ...
May 17, 201313 yr Author Terrible and beautiful. Curious wide retractable blast deflector in USS Lake Erie. No hit-to-kill technology. And remembrances of the Apollo program launches ... That rectangular door is for the exhaust plenum system that serves multiple cells. And the MDA press release claims a kinetic kill: The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space based on guidance from Aegis BMD Weapons Systems and released its kinetic warhead. The kinetic warhead acquired the target reentry vehicle, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the target.
May 18, 201313 yr The Aegis crew does not need to collect driftwood for the evening campfire, that's for sure. But looking at those picture as the missile passes through it's own hot exhaust flames made me wonder whether the body of the SM-3, actually any MK41 VLS launched missile for that matter, has to be specially designed to withstand the inferno at launch? There could be even more extreme conditions inside the box than what we can see above the plenum. A Mk-13 launch certainly looks less stressful for the weapon. Or is it just the slow-mo deceiving the eye and a rocket would anyway need to be sturdy enough to take this on?
May 19, 201313 yr Author Or is it just the slow-mo deceiving the eye and a rocket would anyway need to be sturdy enough to take this on? I expect a bit of both those at work. Considering impact velocity is something like 4 km/sec (and you can see that sucker really take off after leaving the cell).
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