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Angle constraint for nuclear-pumped X-ray laser weapons

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Nuclear-pumped X-ray laser weapons are constrained to have an output beam divergence that is at least as great as a certain minimum value. Because this value is large, such weapons used for ballistic missile defence will require disturbingly high megatonnages in space: for example, a total of ≥ 73 megatons within range of 1,000 attacking missiles, with individual warheads up to 3.7 megatons or higher.

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  1. E. Walbridge

    Present address: Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, 60439, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Science and Technology for International Security, Physics Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    E. Walbridge

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  1. E. Walbridge
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Walbridge, E. Angle constraint for nuclear-pumped X-ray laser weapons. Nature 310, 180–182 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/310180a0

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