If ICBMs can reach practically anywhere in the northern emisphere why do countries worry about misiles placed in a neighbouring country?
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Time
An ICBM can hit pretty much any target in the world in about 30 minutes. Near or far, its about 30 minutes.
The time to hit is known and factored into defense against them. it means you have time to detect the launch, confirm the trajectory, notify defense crews (if there are any that can work), and *launch your counterattack* all before the missiles hit.
But what if I station a smaller missile that doesn’t first launch its warhead into space but takes a much flatter trajectory to get to you, and I place it a lot closer, say just 500 km. Well now my fancy rocket that does 2,000 m/s only takes a bit over 4 minutes from launch to nuclear detonation.
Can your command and control system successfully identify an incoming missile and get its counter attack in the air before mine hits and disables your ability to? Are you willing to take the chance the answer is no? Am I?
The further away the missiles are the less likely a decapitation strike is to work and prevent a counter attack.
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