Kinetic.

This is coolbert:

"Rods of God"

"Crowbars"

Yet further on the warheads and payload of the Prompt Global Strike system. Improved conventional weaponry, having the same destructivness as a tactical nuclear bomb. Tungsten rods, descending in an almost vertical path from outer space at high velocity, what is called a kinetic energy weapon, the bombardment of which is referred to as kinetic bombardment.

A hyper-velocity re-entry vehicle carrying a warhead consisting of such tungsten rods, launched from a high-flying B-52 bomber, allowing the U.S. to have a non-nuclear but very potent capability agaainst any point on the planet within thirty minutes, BUT minus all the drawbacks to the atomic detonation! Tungsten rods having twelve times the energy level of a fifty caliber [.50] round upon impact!

And even beyond the hyper-velocity vehicles, constantly orbiting satellites also having a payload of "flying telephone pole" sized tungsten rods, also with extreme lethality, AND TOTALLY LEGAL UNDER THE CURRENT CONVENTIONS REGARDING SPACE WEAPONRY!

"the SALT II (1979) prohibited the deployment of orbital weapons of mass destruction, it did not prohibit the deployment of conventional weapons"

[weapons of mass destruction defined as nuclear, biological, chemical, radiological, NOT "crowbars"!]

From Popular Science:

"Space-launched darts that strike like meteors"

"This technology is very far out—in miles and years. A pair of satellites orbiting several hundred miles above the Earth would serve as a weapons system. One functions as the targeting and communications platform while the other carries numerous tungsten rods—up to 20 feet in length and a foot in diameter—that it can drop on targets with less than 15 minutes’ notice"

"The weapon can be down-scaled, an orbiting 'crowbar' rather than a pole . . . [a] 20-foot-long (6.1 m), 1-foot-diameter (0.30 m) tungsten rods . . . with impact speeds of Mach 10, and strike 25-foot accuracy."

It would seem that such a system is comparable to the Soviet Fractional Orbital Bombardment System [FOBS] from the 1960's, but WITHOUT THE NUCLEAR OPTION!

Kinetic bombardment, what it is called, NOT a brand new concept. Actually having been described as a "possible" by science-fiction writers from the 1930's and 1940's!

"A kinetic bombardment is the act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high velocities."

The idea of kinetic bombardment is encountered in science fiction quite often, a popular "item" found within the genre'? The origins of the however, again, are disputed:

"from E. E. "Doc" Smith's 1930s and 1940s Lensman series"

"Jerry Pournelle originated the concept while working in operations research at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a science-fiction writer"

The general notion of "kinetic bombardment" incorportated by a variety of sci-fi authors of some repute:

* "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" - - Robert A. Heinlein.
* "Footfall" - - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
* "Shadowrun" - - roleplaying game.
* "Traveller RPG" - - roleplaying game.
* "Babylon 5".
* "Starship Troopers" - - Robert Heinlein.
* "Mass Effect 2".
* "Endwar" - - Tom Clancy.

Science-fiction is NOW? Or will be shortly? ONLY for those nations that have the technological wherewithal and the gumption to use such a weapon will these "crowbars" be a deployable and use-able option. And NO radioactive fallout either!

coolbert.