Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Do they have the capacity to hit targets in the continental US without winning naval supremacy?



They can launch people into orbit and safely bring them back. Hitting a ground target with an ICBM is about the same difficulty.


I don't think the navy can do anything about ICBMs, but even if, they can start by nuking the US navy.


The US Navy does appear to have an ABM capability on some of its ships:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Ballistic_Missile_Defens...


As noted in that article, the system is ineffective (officially, at least) against ICBMs. It only works against ballistic missiles that don't leave the atmosphere.


Good to know. Now the question is, can the newest AEGIS deal with China's newest hypersonic ICBMs. It's a question I very much don't want to see answered through actual test.


They can't nuke the subs, who's primary purpose is to ensure retaliation, which hopefully the fear of keeps countries from launching nukes.


I probably should’ve done a quick search instead of asking:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-para...


Yes.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: