U.S. Pushes Forward Development of Unarmed Space Bomber

The L.A. Times reported on the 28th that the U.S. government is considering moving forward again on plans to develop a new generation of X33 bomber crafts which can eliminate any target outside the earth’s atmosphere in 30 minutes after launch. Called the ``Space Bomber,`` this unarmed craft uses a rocket propulsion system to travel up to an altitude of 96km outside the earth`s atmosphere and destroy the designated target. It also has the option of manned operation. Its flight altitude is 10 times higher than existing aircrafts and travels up to 15 times the speed, making it very difficult for any radar system to detect it.

Due to technological and financial problems, NASA stopped plans to develop the craft in March after spending $10 billion and 5 years of planning with the Rochid Martin Co. However, Secretary of Defense Donald Ramsfeld initiated plans to reexamine the development of the craft as part of the most recent plans to modernize the U.S. military. Airforce Commander Ralph Eberhart support the plan and L.A. Times predicts that the U.S. government will move forward with plans to restart the development of the bomber. Although critics argue that such plans will turn space in to another war zone, the U.S. military proponents assert that that is not the case insofar as actual military targets only exist on the ground. The idea of building a space bomber craft first emerged in 1930 from Austrian scientist Oigen Sanger. At the time Sanger proposed to Adolph Hitler a rocket-like craft called “Silver Bird” that can traverse space and attack New York City.

Cho Hun-Joo hanscho@donga.com