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0 pointsaeonik1y ago0 comments

This doesn't make sense to me. I would assume the engines starting by themselves would introduce enough error to throw the entire system off. Let alone natural seismic events in the ground, plus wind.

I would guess you must solve the 3D problem at least to some degree.

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ethbr11y ago

I'm not a rocket scientist, but I think thrust is pretty constant at that scale. That's why they start, spool up, then release from cradle.

Vs something like a Polaris SLBM that has a much more variable guidance problem

It'd be curious to see how early ICBM and SLBM guidance systems differ.

kens1y ago

I haven't looked at submarine systems in detail, but my understanding is that the big problem is that an ICBM knows where it's starting, but the submarine travels. So submarines have super-accurate inertial navigation systems on board to determine their position.

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