Could GPS technology be applied to BM?

gf0012-aust

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Most ICBM's have dual validation. Stellar and GPS. US CEP's are already down to single digits - you can't get much better than that anyway. And at a nuke level, it's not particularly beneficial unless you need to target a critical site for maximum effect.

Both the US and the USSR had a principle of "overstrike" to deal with such targets.
 
S

Salman78

New Member
What altitude does GPS satellites hover at ?
What altitude does a BM achieve before diving down ?

I knew the answer for both of those but a bit too lazy to do the research again :D
 
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We7det_el_qetal

New Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4
What is the min. CEP achievable ( in ur opinion )
considering the recent GPS corrections offered by a swedish company to counter the deliberate cluter the US military introduces to degrade civilian performance of GPS.
 
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highsea

New Member
Salman78 said:
What altitude does GPS satellites hover at ?
What altitude does a BM achieve before diving down ?
Click to expand...
GPS satellites orbit at 20,200 km with a 12 hour period.

BM's altitude depends on type and range to target. ICBM's typically reach about 1200 km. in altitude at midpoint. IRBM's may reach the same height when they are fired at targets that are shorter than maximum ranges. The flight path is a parabola, so you can see it would vary based on the distance traveled and the type of rocket used.

We7det_el_qetal_ra3d said:
What is the min. CEP achievable ( in ur opinion )
considering the recent GPS corrections offered by a swedish company to counter the deliberate cluter the US military introduces to degrade civilian performance of GPS.
Click to expand...
GPS guidance allows CEP's to be as small as 2-3 meters, depending on the type of missile and the correction applied. The military is not restricted to selective availability, so their accuracy is similar to a civilian DGPS with correction.
 
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highsea

New Member
Quite attainable, depending on the quality of your missile. Civilian surveyors use corrected GPS's to measure within inches. I have used uncorrected GPS's for marine navigation well within ten meters error. It depends on where you are, and what interference may be around, but ten meters is a long way in GPS terms, and 1-2 meters is typical of low-cost COTS DGPS systems.
 
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