When Tungsten rods are dropped from space onto earth they manage to store a lot of kinetic energy because they have a very high boiling point. Dropping tungsten rods from space can release as much energy as nuclear weapons without the nuclear fallout.
Doesn’t that energy ultimately come from the propellant used to get the rods to orbit? Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to just use the propellant itself as the explosive?
Is the advantage of the rod that it’s easier to get it to the target than it would be to get the propellant there?
Having a bunch of tanked up starships in orbits that are officially there for reasons that have nothing to do with their potential military use but can be used to destroy cities is also problematic. Especially when the operational security of them might be worse then standard military operations.
Doesn’t that energy ultimately come from the propellant used to get the rods to orbit? Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to just use the propellant itself as the explosive?
Is the advantage of the rod that it’s easier to get it to the target than it would be to get the propellant there?
Delievering explosives to the target isn’t a trivial problem in war.
That said fully tanked up starships can also get into the explosive range of nuclear weapons. https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/i4b5c0/what_would_be_full_stack_starships_equivalent_in/ suggests that the fuel that starship carries might be comparable to the bomb that hit hiroshima.
Having a bunch of tanked up starships in orbits that are officially there for reasons that have nothing to do with their potential military use but can be used to destroy cities is also problematic. Especially when the operational security of them might be worse then standard military operations.