Starship makes possible a world where the U.S. can deploy an entire armored division anywhere on Earth in under an hour, and supply it entirely from home. "Hegemony" doesn't begin to cover it.
Can they really do that? Did they really get to the Moon? I somehow doubt all of that stuff. But the military use makes complete sense to me, it’s the only thing which makes sense particularly as Musk is a total creation of the state.
“What I’m describing to you is a recipe for a new American Century. And this is just one relatively minor application of what’s to come.”
A new century of warfare! So much to look forward to! [Sarcasm]
Is this the future we want?
I like your work, Rod, but this piece deviates from your normal good style. What you present in this piece is more science fantasy than science. Of course, it’s just one engineer’s opinion.
I can’t figure Musk out. He is supposed to be an engineer, but all I can see is a marketing guy. He hires engineers who make the cool things and then he markets them toward absurdity. Manned missions to Mars would be pointless death sentences. Colonizing Mars will never happen. It would make more sense to colonize the bottom of the oceans and that makes no sense at all. But this marketing is likely a cover for the real story. Musk is in deep with the DoD. Maybe unintentionally, but you hit the target on that one. Neither SpaceX or StarLink have a rational business model without the DoD.
How do the 70-ton M1A2 Abrams tanks get unloaded from the payload bay which is 300 feet off of the ground? Can a 360-foot tall rocket successfully land and stay upright on battlefield terrain?
How does SpaceX intend to do almost identical tasks on the Moon and Mars? And why is NASA paying them for that, selecting them in a competition over craft much lower to the ground, if this is all so stupid?
And similarly: you’re claiming that though not a single cargo ship, C-5, or C-17 was even attacked in 2002-2003, had we deployed the 3rd ID to Saudi by Starship the Iraqi Air Force would somehow have become invincible.
In the Iraq war, the US staged forces outside of Iraq in Kuwait. C5s landing in Kuwait were over the horizon and not detectable by Iraqi radar. A starship would be vulnerable when landing or taking off. A 300-ton fireball slowly rising or descending would be detectable for thousands of miles and could more easily be intercepted.
I’m presenting a contrary point of view. Nothing more.
So you think I'm suggesting we fly these things into airspace we don't control?
Could you point me to the part of the essay where I said anything like that?
But considering that the Israeli's just took out all of Iran's air defenses without losing a single plane, perhaps you're overestimating the value of Russian technology just a bit.
When they land, presumably in or near a combat zone, how will they unload all of these vertical containers full of tanks and bombs? Before being launched into combat, will they sit around, pre loaded and prefueled so they can be deployed anywhere on earth in less than an hour? How will they refuel them in the field for the return flight? How much will it cost to maintain such a force for potentially years?
On the other hand, that puppy could carry a hell of a lot of tungsten “Rods From God.”
This is what I thought when I first saw this SpaceEx Starship. It’s a piece of military dominance machinery pure and simple. Mars my arse!
Mars too. But not Mars only.
Can they really do that? Did they really get to the Moon? I somehow doubt all of that stuff. But the military use makes complete sense to me, it’s the only thing which makes sense particularly as Musk is a total creation of the state.
Starships are subject to air defense countermeasures. You are not landing them through contested airspace.
So are C-17s. And no, I don’t imagine the military would suddenly become stupid.
“What I’m describing to you is a recipe for a new American Century. And this is just one relatively minor application of what’s to come.”
A new century of warfare! So much to look forward to! [Sarcasm]
Is this the future we want?
I like your work, Rod, but this piece deviates from your normal good style. What you present in this piece is more science fantasy than science. Of course, it’s just one engineer’s opinion.
I can’t figure Musk out. He is supposed to be an engineer, but all I can see is a marketing guy. He hires engineers who make the cool things and then he markets them toward absurdity. Manned missions to Mars would be pointless death sentences. Colonizing Mars will never happen. It would make more sense to colonize the bottom of the oceans and that makes no sense at all. But this marketing is likely a cover for the real story. Musk is in deep with the DoD. Maybe unintentionally, but you hit the target on that one. Neither SpaceX or StarLink have a rational business model without the DoD.
I’m confident you’d have said the same thing to Billy Mitchell and Heinz Guderian.
How do the 70-ton M1A2 Abrams tanks get unloaded from the payload bay which is 300 feet off of the ground? Can a 360-foot tall rocket successfully land and stay upright on battlefield terrain?
How does SpaceX intend to do almost identical tasks on the Moon and Mars? And why is NASA paying them for that, selecting them in a competition over craft much lower to the ground, if this is all so stupid?
You don’t seem to know much about this.
And similarly: you’re claiming that though not a single cargo ship, C-5, or C-17 was even attacked in 2002-2003, had we deployed the 3rd ID to Saudi by Starship the Iraqi Air Force would somehow have become invincible.
You’re just arguing to argue.
In the Iraq war, the US staged forces outside of Iraq in Kuwait. C5s landing in Kuwait were over the horizon and not detectable by Iraqi radar. A starship would be vulnerable when landing or taking off. A 300-ton fireball slowly rising or descending would be detectable for thousands of miles and could more easily be intercepted.
I’m presenting a contrary point of view. Nothing more.
So you think I'm suggesting we fly these things into airspace we don't control?
Could you point me to the part of the essay where I said anything like that?
But considering that the Israeli's just took out all of Iran's air defenses without losing a single plane, perhaps you're overestimating the value of Russian technology just a bit.
Rods from God…finally!
Seriously.
When they land, presumably in or near a combat zone, how will they unload all of these vertical containers full of tanks and bombs? Before being launched into combat, will they sit around, pre loaded and prefueled so they can be deployed anywhere on earth in less than an hour? How will they refuel them in the field for the return flight? How much will it cost to maintain such a force for potentially years?
On the other hand, that puppy could carry a hell of a lot of tungsten “Rods From God.”