Die you evil radioactive-powered commies!

[MKSheppard]

ATLANTIC OCEAN PART 6 - RORSAT

NATO vs. SOVIETS

LOCATION: VIRGINIA CAPES
DATE/TIME: 17 SEPTEMBER 1985, 18:00:00Z

By the mid-1970s it was estimated that at least three out of four satellites in space were being used for military purposes. To deny the enemy the use of space and space assets in time of crisis or war, both superpowers began researching and testing of Anti-Satellite (ASAT) systems in the early 1960s. The intended targets were primarily low-orbiting reconnaissance, electronic intelligence and ocean surveillance satellites.

The Soviet Union's only operational ASAT was the Co-Orbital ASAT. The system was basically a killer satellite, known locally as 'Istrebitel Sputnikov' (fighter satellite), launched from the ground and placed into orbit close to the intended target, guided by on-board radar. The 1,400kg ASAT interceptor would then detonate the conventional explosive warhead within a kilometer of the target, destroying it with shrapnel fragments.

The Co-Orbital ASAT system was initially tested from 1963 to 1972, after which the system was declared operational. The test program consisted of around twenty launches that demonstrated the system could be used from orbital altitudes of 230 to 1,000 kilometers. The tests ceased in 1972 after the Soviets signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty but were assumed again in 1976 in response to the US development of the Space Shuttle, viewed by the Kremlin as a carrier of space-based weapons.

A new version of the Co-Orbital ASAT was introduced from 1978 to 1982, with test intercepts taking place about once a year. The range had been extended to as low as 160 km and as high as 1,600 km, and the ASAT was now able to intercept the target in a single orbit. The test flights ended in 1982, with many interceptors being kept in operational readiness at the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan.

The United States' first anti-satellite program began in 1962, and although many systems were eventually tested, none had become fully operational by 1980. In 1979, four years before the advent of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the United States Air Force issued a contract to Vought for an ASM-135A Air-Launched Miniature Vehicle (ALMV). This three-stage missile, weighing about 2700lb at launch and being 18 feet long, would be launched from the centerline fuselage hardpoint of an F-15 Eagle against a satellite in low-earth orbit. The missile would use an infrared seeker to home in on the target and attempt to destroy or disrupt it by scoring a direct hit.

Captive flights began in the early 1980s. The first actual launch of an ASM-135A from an F-15 took place in January 1984, with the missile being aimed at a predetermined point in space. Three subsequent launches were made against celestial infrared sources. The launching aircraft had been specially wired to accommodate the missile and was provided with a backup battery, a microprocessor, and a datalink for midcourse guidance.

The first flight against an actual target satellite took place on September 13, 1985. An F-15A took off from Vandenberg AFB, zoom-climbed to 80,000 feet and launched the ASAT against the test target, orbiting at about 555 km above the earth. Both the first and second rocket stages fired successfully, and the miniature kinetic kill vehicle separated and homed in on the satellite, destroying it upon impact.

The test was carried out only one day prior to the outbreak of war. Two F-15As wired for the ASAT have now been relocated to Langley AFB on the US East Coast and married up with a handful pre-production ASAT missiles. The intention is to try to knock out Soviet RORSAT oceanic reconnaissance satellites in low-earth orbit.

[Author's Note: In reality, the Soviet ASAT program was later abandoned. The US program effectively ended in December 1985 when a ban was put in place on testing the missile on targets in space. The plan was to modify twenty F-15As for the anti-satellite mission and procure up to 112 missiles however the ASAT program was officially terminated in 1988.]

INTEL:
The Soviets rely heavily on ocean surveillance satellites to detect and track movements of NATO naval vessels and merchant shipping. Two basic types of reconnaissance satellite systems are used - Radar Ocean Reconnaissance satellites (RORSATs) and Electronic Ocean Reconnaissance satellites (EORSATs), known locally as US-A and US-P respectively.

The RORSATs are usually deployed in pairs. To increase the ability to monitor foreign fleet movements they circle the earth at a very low operational orbit of 255 km and a nodal period of 89 minutes. By restricting the orbits to between 65 degrees south and 65 degrees north latitude, the observation time is concentrated over the major oceans of the world where Western naval activity normally takes place. The paired RORSATs reside within the same orbital plane but cross the equator 25 minutes apart, and because of the earth's rotation, the ground track of the second RORSAT is displaced more than 250 nm west at 45 degrees latitude. The RORSATs are outfitted with a large radar powered by a compact nuclear reactor, and the width of the area observed by each satellite is approximately 240 nm parallel to the orbital track.

The EORSAT signal-gathering satellites obtain data on the location of western shipping by listening for radar, high-frequency communications, and other active sensors. The satellites fly at an altitude of about 420 km and cover a wide area of ocean in each orbit. The solar-powered EORSATs are normally formed into constellations of two to three satellites working together, closely linked with the RORSAT satellites.

By war outbreak the Soviets operated five ocean surveillance satellites. The two RORSATs were launched on August 1 and 23, 1985, working in coordination with a pair of EORSATs put into orbit a few weeks earlier. The fifth satellite, an EORSAT, was launched only a few hours prior to the initialization of hostilities.

MISSION:
Mission planning has been performed in the Strategic Air Command's Cheyenne Mountain complex in Colorado. The intended target is the first of the paired RORSAT satellites; the ground track has been drawn on the tactical map.

The ASAT-armed F-15A is to take off immediately and fly to the weapon release point. Zoom climb to an altitude of 80,000 feet and launch the ASAT, all under computer control. The first stage will propel the missile to a precise inertial point in space on collision course with the target satellite. The second stage points the third stage, the miniature kill vehicle (MKV), at the target so that the infrared image can be detected. The 30lb third stage then separates, and, guided by the IR seeker and employing 63 maneuver motors, collides with the satellite at a closing velocity of 15,000 miles per hour.

It is estimated the missile will have 80% chance of destroying the target.