Originally posted by djohnsto77
Russia whining because they'd like to get in a new arms race but can't afford it is pathetic. We will put weapons in space if it makes sense for us
to do. There's nothing Russia would be able to do about it unless they want a full-on hot war with the United States.
Despite the decrepit state of the Russian military, their space program is still fairly functional, if maybe not top notch. They can develop new
systems at a fraction of what it would cost here. Their response can be asymmetric, such as launching 10,000 decoy satellites.
Also:
There can be ruses to circumvent the anti-weapon conventions, such as: they construct a fleet of weather sattelites which carry a large supply of
propellant. Just in case. That propellant just happens to be highly explosive. Now, the aft part of the vessel is fortified with a few flanges held in
place by 5,000 tungsten nuts and bolts. Just in case.
They just used so many for strength, but of course it's secondary function is shrapnel. Guess what they got themselves: a little space cannon, and
perfectly legal.
It's really not in the interest of the US to even start there. We'll sink 600B more into that (even though we are already bankrupt), and in the end
it won't solve a thing.
As to "bring them on", we all know how that kind of swagger works in real world.
[edit on 20-5-2005 by Aelita]