Orbital bombardment

Orbital bombardment

Orbital bombardment or FOBS weapons are one of the most devastating things that mankind is ever imagined and invented. Normally FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System) is meaning the high yield thermonuclear weapons, which are locating at the orbital trajectory. 

Originally FOBS meant the Soviet spaceborne weapon project in the 1960s. But nowadays that means all spaceborne bombardment systems, that an attack against the ground or low flying targets by using normal bombs, kinetic energy weapons, nuclear warheads or high power electromagnetic rays like lasers or high power microwave radiation. The space shuttles can operate as the launching platform for those systems. 

The fact is that nuclear weapons are only one part of the FOBS-weapons. The other type of FOBS weapons is kinetic energy systems, which are launched by using rocket launchers or electromagnetic rail guns. 

Sometimes people are talking about things like "Project Thor", what are some of the most futuristic versions of the orbital bombardment systems, and say that those systems are not possible to make. "Project Thor" gives the capacity to deliver precision destructive flechettes to the enemy cities. 

Those flechettes might be made by using depleted uranium, which makes them very effective against ships and other places like single houses. That thing makes orbital flechette weapons different than some nuclear weapons. 

The fact is that the simpler version of that futuristic nuclear-powered electromagnetic cannon is the orbiting Katyusha launcher, which can shoot rockets to the earth. The new type of miniature space shuttles can drop conventional bombs or nuclear weapons to certain areas. 

The miniature shuttles can rise above the atmosphere, and if the war begins those shuttles can dive back to earth. In this case, the shuttle itself can be equipped with a nuclear weapon that is detonated internally. And if the war is not coming those shuttles can return to earth. 

The scramjet missiles can operate as FOBS-weapons. And they can fly similar wave-profile trajectory, what the wagtail uses in nature. That trajectory makes that kind of weapon extremely hard targets. 

The newest systems are scramjet-based hypersonic missiles, which can shoot from airplanes. Those systems can operate every kind of platform, and they can send to high altitudes even by using the balloon. 

Then the Pegasus rocket will push them above the atmosphere, where they can wait for orders to attack. Those systems might have rocket scramjets, which means the flap is closing the air inlet while the missile is at orbiter. During orbital maneuvers, the engine operates as the normal rocket engine where the oxygen and fuel are pumped to the combustion chamber from the internal tanks. 

When it takes an order to begin the operation the scramjet acts as a rocket engine. The flap is opening when the craft is returning and the injection of oxygenizing stops and the missile will start to use the atmospheric oxygen. That thing increases the range of that kind of cruise missiles. And they can travel by using the wave-looking trajectory, which the wagtail uses when it flies as I wrote earlier. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-rods-from-god-kinetic-weapon-hit-with-nuclear-weapon-force-2017-9?r=US&IR=T

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105