Orbital bombardment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orbital bombardment is the act of attacking targets on a planet, moon or other such object from orbit around the object, rather than from an aircraft or a platform beyond orbit. It is most often encountered in fiction, but has been proposed as a means of attack for several real-world weapons systems concepts, including kinetic bombardment and as a nuclear delivery system.
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[edit] The Cold War
The Soviet Union deployed a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System from 1968-1983. Using this system, a nuclear warhead could be placed in low Earth orbit, and later de-orbited to hit any location on the Earth's surface. While the Soviet Union deployed a working version of the system, they were forbidden by the Outer Space Treaty to place live warheads in space. The fractional orbital bombardment system was phased out in January 1983 in compliance with the SALT II treaty of 1979, which, among other things, prohibited the deployment of systems capable of placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit.
Orbital bombardment systems with conventional warheads are permitted under the terms of SALT II. Most such proposed systems rely on long rods dropped from orbit and depend on kinetic energy, rather than explosives, for their destructive power.
[edit] In science fiction
Orbital bombardment systems occasionally feature in speculation and science fiction, and are in fact better known than their real-world counterparts. Typically, the assault is conducted by spacecraft as a part of interplanetary, rather than intraplanetary, warfare. Such a feat would require technology far surpassing modern capabilities.
An effective orbital bombardment is regarded as one of the most devastating forms of attack, surpassed only by destruction of planetary bodies or other astronomical objects.
[edit] Examples of orbital bombardments in science fiction
- In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Imperial Navy issues a base delta zero order when an orbital bombardment is deemed necessary to subdue a rebellious planet. During a base delta zero operation, a planet's upper crust is reduced to molten slag, killing all but the most deeply sheltered life on the planet. This concept was first used by the Sith during the Jedi Civil War. The actual order was first adapted by Old Republic generals during the Clone Wars, and later by the Empire. There is some confusion, however, over the method with which such an operation was implemented, with some sources claiming that a single Star Destroyer was capable of carrying out a base delta zero order. However, the Imperial Sourcebook says a hundred ships are needed for such a bombardment, and that such a fleet would include several Star Destroyers. Further confusion stems from the book Scavenger Hunt, in which the combined firepower of three Star Destroyers succeed in slagging a rebel base(There was a survivor of the attack in an underground shelter), but only crater the surface of the small moon on which it was located.
- In the new Battlestar Galactica series the catastrophic bombardment of the Twelve Colonies is carried out using nuclear weapons in huge numbers.
- In the Babylon 5 series, the Centauri employed orbital bombardment against the Narn homeworld.
- In the Battletech universe, the city of Edo on the Draconis Combine planet of Turtle Bay is destroyed from orbit by invading Clan Smoke Jaguar forces in retaliation for resistance to their occupation.
- In the Traveller universe, assault units of the 3rd Imperium's Imperial Marines are routinely deployed from orbiting spacecraft while wearing "Battledress" (or "powered armor") via a mass driver-like weapon, by strapping themselves onto a half-sphere of rock approximately 2 meters in diameter. While functioning as an effective heat shield, the rock continues on its terminal descent after the Marine drops away, causing great damage on impact.
- In the Homeworld universe, the Taiidan bombard the Kushan planet Kharak, and thus killing every kushan apart from the ones who where off-world.
- In the computer/video game Halo universe, the Covenant bombarded countless human worlds from orbit, turning the planets' surface into glass with their ships' plasma weapons.
- In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Imperium of Man makes extensive use of orbital bombardments, both tactical and strategic. The ultimate Imperial sanction against a world is that of Exterminatus, whereby a planet is "cleansed" - all life on it is annihilated. This tactic is most often used against worlds that are deemed to be past salvation, such as those irreversibly tainted by the supernatural powers of Chaos, or infected by the alien Tyranids. The Adeptus Astartes (or "Space Marines") also regularly make use of smaller scale orbital bombardments before launching the planetary assaults in which they specialize. Recorded methods of Exterminatus include repeated bombardment with ship-bourne plasma lances and the igniting of the atmosphere, thereby destroying all life on the surface. A more extreme method is to destabilise the planet's core and cause the planet itself to be destroyed. This is normally only used if the planet is playing host to an enemy deemed to be a threat to the Imperium which cannot be defeated, such as a world on which a Necron stasis-tomb is built.
- In the Star Trek television franchise which includes the computer games Star Trek: Armada II and Star Trek Elite Force II, orbital bombardment is sometimes used to support ground operations. The Star Trek: TOS episode "A Taste of Armageddon" also revealed the existence of a Bombardment protocol utilized by Starfleet known as General Order #24, in which a single Starship can eliminate all traces of civilization from a planetary surface.
- In the Command & Conquer series of games, the Global Defense Initiative's ion cannon is used for the orbital bombardment of installations belonging to the Brotherhood of Nod.
