Fractional Orbital Bombardment System

October 18, 2021 February 20, 2022

The Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) was developed by the Soviet Union in 1960s. The system is used to launch nuclear warheads from space.

About Fractional Orbital Bombardment System

The system had no range limit. That is, it can be targeted at any point on the earth. The flight path of the warhead from the system does not reveal the target location till the payload hits the destination. However, the orbit of the system around the earth was only a fraction of the full orbit.

Flight Tests of FOBS

The first flight test was conducted in 1965. It was a failure. The second test was conducted in 1966. It was a partial success. Finally, in 1968, after its twentieth test the Soviet succeeded in FOBS. This FOBS project was called R-360. In 1971, the Soviet Union placed 18 R-360s in service in Kazakhstan. According to NATO, the primary target of FOBS was the US Grand Forks Air Force base. The R-360 was loaded with nuclear payload in 1972.

Features

It granted unlimited striking range. It was capable of striking from any direction. It was smart to hide the target location till the payload was dropped. According to the Soviet Union, the FOBS was capable of trumping the anti-ballistic missiles of the US.

Outer Space Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty signed in 1967 stated that the signatories shall not place nuclear weapons in the orbit around the earth. Even after the treaty, FOBS stayed in the space. The Soviet Union claimed that FOBS takes a partial orbit and can thus stay in space.

SALT II

The SALT II agreement was signed between the Soviet Union and US in 1979. SALT is Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The agreement prohibited the deployment of FOBS. The US Government did not ratify SALT II. However, the Soviet Union complied and decommissioned FOBS in 1983.

Why was FOBS ended?

One of the reasons is SALT II. Apart from this, the system faced technical disadvantages. The system demanded high level of energy to load a weapon into orbit. Also, it was less accurate than ICBM. The ICBM are Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. ICBM was developed during second world war. The countries that hold operational ICBMs are India, North Korea, USA, China, Russia, France and UK.