When they hit the atmosphere, the comparatively light decoys start slowing way down compared to the heavy RVs. So the decoys have those motors to keep their deceleration equal to the RVs, prolonging the ruse. But now the enemy can tell which are real and which are decoys! So the real RVs have smaller motors that burn simply to make them look the same as the decoys. But they do not provide significant thrust; it's more like the tracer compound in a bullet. Anyway current RVs don't have any of that now, because we don't use any penaids at all.

@@dziban303 oh interesting. I am sure we do use these still but just not "officially". Have to wonder about all these pronounced MIRV rollbacks. Very difficult to verify. It's not like when we decommissioned silos due to non-proliferation treaties and left the visible signs so the Russians could see from space that we complied.

Yes, they do not have their own engine

"Charmingly matter-of fact as the bus maneuvers to the next drop-off spot." You noticed that.

Gary Watson exactly, it's rather foolish to use decoys when all reentry vehicles can be.....all warheads..After all during a nuclear war, all that arms treaty jargon won't mean anything...

Weight is the issue. Warheads are much heavier than decoys.

And number, according to New START.

+Kenneth C You mean the arms reduction treaty that China doesn't have to comply with?

This comment i think show you don't really know what you're talking about. Warheads are heavy, the US' smallest missile warhead for example, the W76, weighs in at about 300lb. For the same weight you could be looking at a dozen inflatable Mylar decoys, 300lb of aluminum plastic strips as chafe, electronic warfare equipment etc. As for treaties, if you violate them the Russians will find out, before a nuclear war has happened. Both sides do verify each other is in compliance. They don't blindly trust them to follow it you know.

Jesus dude, the decoy blew my mind..

We have less now. Due to nuclear reductions treaties. The targeting stuff is all improved but the warheads are really similar except for better safety features which are really only to prevent accidents.

@@sevenrats When I retired in 1981 after 19 years in the Minuteman system, we had reduced to 1 RV per missile and NO decoys as per treaty. I think that we 400 we still have on alert are probably the same still.

@@billn9910 Not since the US pulled out of START. The current fleet is being retrofitted with MIRVs and new weapons being developed are based on MIRV technology.

@@carolinasmedicalillustrati6760 This is incorrect for the Minuteman III weapon system. The US still abides by the New START Treaty and only have 1 RV per ICBM. MIRVs are only generated for test launches every few years or so.

The implication is that the deterrent umbrella is significantly different- or has systems which are distinct. Perhaps the SLBM is truly *the* determining object in any nation's deterrent. The UK and France only field these if I'm correct. The importance is keeping our subs quiet and undetected and ready to deliver upon a valid order. I couldn't imagine a job more important while simultaneously being frightening beyond comprehension. Is there some sort of "post-launch clarity"? What will their reactions be knowing what their job has accomplished? What can stop MIRVs at 20 times the speed of sound. It's many miles per second. Godspeed to those who are serving as our deterrent. Heres to hoping we will never find out what they can do

@@Chironex_Fleckeri " Perhaps the SLBM is truly the determining object in any nation's deterrent. " Oh.....there is no doubt about it. The enemy can attack our land based systems but they know.....for sure....that the SLBMs are going to get them.

@@Chironex_Fleckeri "The UK and France only field these if I'm correct. " SLBMs ? No, the U.S. and Russia also have them. From what I read 5 nations have SLBMs.

@@Chironex_Fleckeri "Is there some sort of "post-launch clarity"? What will their reactions be knowing what their job has accomplished?" That's a VERY good question. When I was in the Air Force we launched all of our aircraft off the base once during an exercise. I was young.....I turned to our supervisor and asked him, "Hey Sarge, what do we do now? All the planes are gone." His answer to me was to chuckle and say, "Airman, now we die. Because enemy missiles will be about 15 minutes away from impact on our base." That was very sobering. I guess the conventional answer would be that we would prepare the base to receive returning bombers should they or us survive.

@@rael5469 There are 7 nations so far that have SLBMs - the 5 UN Security Council powers as well as India and North Korea. Very recently, Japan and South Korea are developing non-nuclear SLBMs.

You’re an idiot and leading false info to people. You people dont listen to this one, look up MIRV for evidence.

it "hides" behind the heat of the RV and helps the RV appear exactly like the decoy so they seem indistinguishable from each other.

@@__hjg__2123 Works in the old days. Not that great now, we've come a long way in sensor tech.

That ain't working look at those warheads! they love the blowup dolls at Mach twenty maybe they need a little Pyro they don't care about m t v

Bob Finkenbiner Likely it won't. S-400 and S-500 will blow it out if the sky. Then comes the retaliation against which America has almost no defense.

Choo Choo...

ⵔⵓⴽⴰⵜⴽⴰⵜ No eto nye tak. Ty nye budesh' dumat eto shuchu kogda nachetsya dozhd ognya.

all aboard!

Munch neutrons, commie!!

I still.

As much of a risk as this conversation as, what missile system did you work on?

in 23 years we never saw a missile launched 🤔

Then you never were at Vandenburg

Every evening Larry gets spanked...

I assume it's because they can't make the inflatable shroud on the decoy out of the same heat shield material as the RV. So to make them look the same they gave the RV a shroud made of the inflatable material.

Correct

You'd still want penetration aids.

Lmao no I don't think we use decoys at all, pretty sure there's like 10 real nukes per missile now

@@kevinmg3x355 Depends on the missile and warhead in question. The current US Minuteman III has three warheads plus chaff and other decoys. The US Trident II has four warheads (under New START limitations) and the remaining space for the other warheads is taken up by decoys. The British-version Trident II and French M51 are under no treaty limitations (and no one cares because there's not as many of them) and can carry 10+ warheads AND chaff and decoys. The Chinese, Russians, and North Koreans are never upfront about what they have anymore. And the Indians, well, who cares what the Indians have.

​@@eddietat95well, thats mostly true but u were off quite a bit amigo

OMFG WHY XD

Now that's megatonnage!

Yeah

Terrence and Phillip asses of fire😬

Eat healthy...okay clean up your Skid Marx ...

Optical sensors cannot discern the decoys’ motors from the RVs. Also, the shroud is most likely present to protect the RVs during reentry.

the RV ejects a shroud to look more like the decoy. the decoys have a much lower weight so they need a larger rocket to go fast through the upper atmosphere, while the real RV has more weight and momentum

strategic towing detected...

That's why it's best to bomb missiles before they get off the ground instead of trying to shoot them down.

How does the warhead maneuver? I just saw one at a museum and it looks like a solid black cone. No maneuvering rockets and no fins.

@@rael5469 the manuverable ones has wings

Yeah they can zigzag or evade defense systems trying to take them down.

@@ranjithtp6204 you mean MARV ( Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle), or HGV (Hypersonic Glide Vehicle)

A few countries have ABM systems. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-ballistic_missile All of these systems have very limited range due to the extremely high speed intercept, they amount more to denial of area systems for a bubble of a few hundred kilometers.

So you would use real warheads as decoys? Or needlessly fire multiple warheads at the same target? Seems wasteful if a simple decoy can get the job done.

Yes, the countermeasures or decoys if they work and very well, there have been many tests of countermeasures and if they work and if they deceive, I guess the enemy will have to launch the interceptors to try to destroy all the decoys and warheads which will be multiple (MIRV) And they will also be maneuvering, dodging and changing their trajectory (MARV) and also the modern medium and long range ballistic missiles can carry HGV (hypersonic Glide vehicle) which are nuclear warheads that go at speeds of Mach 15 to Mach 20 (15 or 20 times faster than sound) or simply warheads with the speed of ballistic missiles, which also maneuver and you can also add all the countermeasures that exist with these warheads.

SLBMs are much more useful than ICBMs in a... real exchange . These missiles are just so expensive. They do serve an important role but think. You can find these silos easily. They've been there many years..but where is the submarine with its Tridents. Then you have the B-2 and 5th gen strike aircraft that we mow know convincingly would get through ADS easily and drop B61-12 . The LGM-118 was the Missileers best tool but it was treatied out . Also, it was expensive beyond its usefulness when the submarines. Just one can do so much

Yes I have seen videos of that on youtube.

it's not really theirs tho, Soviet left it there when it collapse, Soviet is Russia, even the nuke codes are in Moscow

@@Haunt888 I don’t know where you got this stupid idea that Soviet is ruzzia. Soviet Union was a well developed self sustainable economy and the most powerful military in the world. To give you a perspective, the Soviet Union was a mighty red bear that everyone was afraid of, that bear is dead, ruzzia is a bear’s louse in comparison.

​@@johndorian3685tell that to Russia. Russia thinks it is a superpower.

i highly doubt you were anything in the army lol

@@kissanruokaa Dude said he was in the Navy not "Army"

@@thomasjaeger9811 My point: him capslocking like a mad man... and being american but still couldn't write the language :) Im not american so navy and army is the same for me, im not used to differ them, army in my country means overall in the armed forces :)

Very sleek n Knechty if you ask me... 😎

Balloon decoys are lighter than warheads so when they encounter the atmosphere they slow down faster and anti-missile systems can filter them out and concentrate on the warheads. This system uses a rocket in the decoys so that they keep up with the warheads and a dummy rocket in the warheads so they look the same as the decoys.

The heaviest Soviet ICBM, the R-36M, was capable of putting up to 8,800 kg of warheads and decoys into orbit. The heaviest US ICBM, the LGM-118 Peacekeeper pictured in this video, was capable of putting only 4000 kg into orbit. That's a pretty big difference.

@@Sssaaatttuuurrrnnn didnt they tune the nukes down or something?

U.S. missiles (such as Minuteman) didn't need large warheads (in terms of yield) because they were much more precise than their Soviet counterparts.

What about the older cold war missiles though, ive heard that they were much stronger than modern day missiles.

That's true. 1st-generation ICBMs like the Soviet R7 and the American Atlas were highly inaccurate. As such, they needed larger warheads to effectively destroy their targets.

They can. But the NEW START Treaty doesn’t allow it. On Average, we have 4 Nuclear Warheads on on Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles. A mix of W88, 475KT warheads, W76-1, 90KT warheads, and the new W76-2, 5KT, low yield nuclear warhead.

@@jacobholmes5392 I suppose the fewer warheads allow for more decoys.

@@daikucoffee5316 It also has other penetration capabilities…

Yes they most certainly do.

It depends. Motors are used when the gravitational field of Earth cannot pull the RV into the atmosphere. Also, the motors could also be used to confused heat-seeking ICBM defenses.

Zechariah 14: “This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.”

And no viable BMD.

You are sadly mistaken, almost delusional.

Everything Russia has is garbage

you must be a hit at parties

Well. At least this comment is not the most stupid one I have ever seen.

+Kenneth B paging /r/wooooosh

absolutely, fake as the moon landings. people don't realize how complicated and dangerous reentry is. crazy how many people still go for it