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Bill: Project: God's Hand
Details
Submitted by[?]: National Fascisti
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This bill is a resolution. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: April 2159
Description[?]:
| With the rapid and vast strengthening of our military forces, the National Fascisti do not believe this could be a more appropriate time to propose this scientific area of research which has been on the backburner for sometime now. Project: God's Hand is a scientific project that focusses on the development of orbital kinetic projectile weaponry for military use. The weapons are essentially orbiting tungsten rods guided by small fins and an internal computer system. Such weapons do not violate WMD restrictions (not that our great empire is subject to any). Such weapons are extremely effective with some of their features including: - Global range (depending on the setup/location of the weapon systems in orbit) - Time until impact is within minutes of firing - Launch is difficult to detect - Defense against such a weapon is extraordinarily difficult - The amount of damage caused by such weapons can vary from conventional bombs to that of nuclear weapons, depending on the size of the weapon More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment Such technology requires large amounts of funding but we strongly believe it will be worth every Gold Legion. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV Minister of Science and Technology |
Proposals
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 04:51:31, December 17, 2005 CET | From | National Fascisti | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | Additionally, we will also channel funds towards the development of chemical and biological agent countermeasures, to ensure that we are not caught off guard and are as best prepared as we can be to protect our legions, as well as our people, in the event that such weapons are used against us. As you can imagine, if a biological agent were to be released into our populace, it could have disastrous effects and result in thousands, perhaps even millions, of deaths. We MUST be prepared. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV Minister of Science and Technology |
| Date | 12:24:47, December 20, 2005 CET | From | Totalitarian Party | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | From Progressive Imperial Party To Debating the Project: God's Hand Message We feel current Strategic Defence Force movements towards the increased weaponisation of space through the use of space-deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles is more than adequate in this area, as such a weapon would require a substantial amount of research funding, and would not provide a substantial improvement in performance. Space-deployed missiles have almost all of the advantages listed above: Global range, short time from launch to impact (not quite so short, but quite short all the same), detecting the launch would require spotting an incredibly small rocket firing- which would be almost indistinguishable from a satellite firing orbital thrusters. Defence against a space-based missile is well-nigh impossible, and the effect of the weapon is limited only by what we choose to arm the missile with- this could include chemical, biological, nuclear, or conventional weapons. And the Ministry of Defence has already stated that we have ensured that we are prepared to deal with any chemical, and many different forms of biological attack. |
| Date | 15:30:27, December 20, 2005 CET | From | National Fascisti | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | Whilst the above are very valid points, there are still certain advantages to kinetic bombardment: 1) Scalability - Whilst space-deployed ICBMs can be employed, orbital kinetic weaponry can be scaled as small as to have comparable effects to artillery shells, giving us the ability to call in standard "artillery strikes" anywhere (along with other kinds of bombardment such as from aircraft, but without the need to risk our men and resources or to get them into position in the first place). In general, the payload of ICBMs is too limited for conventional explosives to be efficient, leaving a nuclear warhead as the only option, really. 2) Hardened/Underground Targets - Orbital kinetic weaponry would be far, far superior to convential weapons (and won't cause tremendous amounts of collateral damage, fallout and what not as simply trying to nuke an underground bunker). Conventional bunker busters can barely penetrate more than a few metres of reinforced concrete. Think about how far a tungsten rod travelling at 9000+m/s could penetrate. 3) Cost - Once the technology is developed, the weaponry will be relatively cheap to produce, as there will be no need for expensive payloads, simply a whole load of tungsten rods. 4) Falllout - Orbital kinetic weaponry can have comparable strength to small nuclear weapons, but without the side effect of dangerous nuclear fallout. |
| Date | 23:11:42, December 20, 2005 CET | From | Progressive Imperial Party | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | The only difficulty is the fact that you are not, in fact, proposing simply launching tungsten rods- the proposed items are highly sensitive satellites, which would require more than just a 'tungsten rod' these would need guidance computers, which would have to be constantly on, so as to maintain the satellites' orbit, thrusters to maintain the satellites orbit, solar panels to provide a continueing power supply for the computer and thrusters, and a supply of fuel to swiftly launch the satellite out of orbit and into a freefall. Despite what the wiki article says, if any error is made in the calculation of the initial burn, the satellite will miss its target- there would be absolutely no room whatsoever for course adjustment after initial burn. Surface-deployed ballistic missiles would, in nearly all cases, be just as effective, at a fraction of the cost. While this project has a great 'ooh, look at us' value, spending the cost of a satellite for the equivalent of an artillery shell is somewhat excessive. While we can see that this has some value for very specific purposes, we feel the military budget could be better spent on more meaningful endeavours. |
| Date | 05:59:51, December 21, 2005 CET | From | Nationalist Party of Gaduridos | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | We Trust our Defence Minister's knowledge. |
| Date | 06:49:19, December 21, 2005 CET | From | Totalitarian Party | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | After much thought, the Totalitarian Party has decided to support Project: God's Hand. |
| Date | 07:21:37, December 21, 2005 CET | From | Nationalist Party of Gaduridos | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | In light of new evidence, we will abstain. We would not have had this debate been resolved prior to vote; however, as it stands both sides seemingly have valid points. |
| Date | 07:23:52, December 21, 2005 CET | From | National Fascisti | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | Space-deployed ICBMs would require most of this as well. What I said in point 3 above specifically addressed payloads, as any weaponry we use will require guidance systems and the like. Space deployed weaponry, whatever it may be (including space-deployed ICBMs), will have to be constantly powered, have computer systems, thrusters, fuel and solar panels. It is not like our current satellites are having difficulty 'being kept switched on'. Many conventional weapons can miss if an error is made in the inital calculation. Besides, that is -if- an error is made in the calculation. Of course we will continue to develop the technology to maximise accuracy. As stated previously, in general, ICBMs are restricted to a nuclear payload. The use of nuclear weapons must be considered very carefully due to the ramifications of the radioactive fallout and whatnot. Kinetic bombardment is a much cleaner option for the same destructive effect. Also, as above, when faced with foes that employ deeply buried facilities, it is extremely difficult for conventional attacks to completely wipe out such a threat, due to the dispersal of equipment over a number of sites and the difficulty of destroying hardened bunkers in the first place. Once again, nuclear weapons could succeed, but once again we are faced with fallout and much political backlash. |
| Date | 16:34:28, December 28, 2005 CET | From | Progressive Imperial Party | To | Debating the Project: God's Hand |
| Message | As it has been passed, the defence ministry will, of course, be developing these weapons. Our opinions are inconsequential, and while we feel funding could be better spent, this project is not without merit. This will be placed under the purview of the Strategic Defence Force, along with other space weapons. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 221 | ||||
| no | Total Seats: 123 | ||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 97 |
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