gambit
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If all I do is hover and position myself in front of a descending warhead as it travels at double-digit Mach, I will intercept the warhead. There is no 'catch' here. The question is how good are my avionics to make it possible. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) does not 'catch' but actually intercept. THAAD is being improved to where each interceptor can go exo-atmospheric where debris will be largely destroyed upon contact with the atmosphere. Exo-atmospheric sometimes does not mean you are out of your territory so descending debris can still do some damages.If there is no need to distinguish between ICBM interceptors vs THAAD IRBM interceptors, then the US must be the biggest fool to deploy an mid course ICBM interceptor if it already has THAAD.
The truth is that ICBM terminal speed is too fast for terminal phase interceptor. Its only theorize that THAAD "might" catch an ICBM while its transitioning from mid course to terminal phase. But for a more reliable hit, a mid course interceptor is needed.
I never heard of an Indian brag about a mid course interceptor. I only heard Indians in here brag about coming up with THAAD. So therefore, India clearly has no mid course interceptor
read this article
Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Systems
before doing talk more about ABMs
So having a dedicated mid-course defense method is complementary to an exo-atmospheric capable terminal defense method. In the graphics above, what is labeled as 'Midcourse' actually contain sub-phases called 'Ascent' then 'Midcourse'. The 'ascent' phase is before the bus assembly reach apogee, the highest altitude point of the ballistic trajectory. But for convenience sake, the entire exo-atmospheric travel path is labeled 'midcourse'.
Now...Is it possible to actually come from behind the bus assembly and destroy it, in other words, to 'catch' instead of 'intercept'? Yes. For this we may want to look at what is called the 'co-orbital' method of approaching an object...
Anti-satellite weapon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Granted...The above excerpt is for anti-satellite. But the principle is the same, which is to achieve the same orbit as the target, approach it close enough where the target will be damaged or even destroyed by an explosion. So while in principle it is possible to 'catch' the bus assembly while it is very briefly a satellite, it is not practical precisely because of that too short duration spent outside Earth's atmosphere. That leave a head-on intercept, including off-angle, as the most desirable method of exo-atmospheric ABM defense.The IS system was "co-orbital", approaching its target over time and then exploding a shrapnel warhead close enough to kill it. The missile was launched when a target satellite's ground track rises above the launch site. Once the satellite is detected, the missile is launched into orbit close to the targeted satellite. It takes 90 to 200 minutes (or one to two orbits) for the missile interceptor to get close enough to its target. The missile is guided by an onboard radar. The interceptor, which weighs 1400 kg, may be effective up to one kilometer from a target.