If a country sends a nuclear missle to another country, can the missle be intercepted and detonated over the country that launched it?
121415
Yes it does.  The USAF is refining the concept of using an airborn laser in a converted jetliner chasis to destroy missles in their boost phase (before reaching the upper arc of their travel).  This will cause the warhead to drop either into the ocean or back onto the country that launched it.
273258
absolutely.  it's called abiding by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty which vietnam and iran have both signed, along with the US and Russia.
289604
Before you make a bigger fool of yourself I suggest you take the time to actually study enough international law to know what you are talking about.\n\nUnless Israel signs the NPT they are not bound by it and it is the NPT and only the NPT which prevents signatories which are not yet nuclear powers from acquiring nuclear weapons.\n\nTherefore Israel is NOT violating international law.
287098
The concern with Russia is their aging nuclear security system, aging early warning systems and possibility of diversion of material to rogue states or terrorist groups.  They could accidentally launch a nuclear missile at the US or NATO allies...
448112
If they are stupid enough to fire a nuke I think all nations with nukes should respond in kind. A few dozen big mushroom clouds coming from all the major powers would have a startling effect on all the countries who want to have a nuke.  Imagine it. One nuke from every country that has the capability to hit Iran. That would be like a huge "WHO IS NEXT" sign for the world to see.
223164
Its basically a deterrant to keep other nations from using them.  So say for example, Iran nukes Israel, then the other club members would be required to obliterate all of Iran as punishment.  Even in the afghanistan mountains, the US only used conventional bombs and not nukes.
608322
I'm speaking as the resident subject matter expert, that missile is capable of hitting Alaska, Hawaii, Californis, Oregon, Washington (not D.C. unfortunately), and some of Arizona, Utah, and Idaho.\n\nAnd for those of you who have absolute trust in the Missile defense system, all I can say is you poor sick deluded fools. It's 50/50 in tests. And that's when they've been rigged.
338588
Not only that. The same sequence of warnings could happen for Iran also. These things happen as long as there is ground to believe US (and other nations of the nuclear club) are not fair in their demands when they themselves indulge in nuclear weapons. Something like saying "I am a thief and will steal whatever I can. But anything you steal is a crime and so don't do it"
331280
The US has done studies on the possibility of stealing Russian satellites (usually they were done back in the days when the term Soviet would be used) but the fact that the Soviets typically put self-destructs on their satellites (particularly the military ones the US would have wanted to steal) would make it too dangerous to do.  Russia still puts self-destruct systems on their military satellites.\n\nGetting the technology for satellites would be easier done through the use of espionage than by sending up a mission to steal the satellite.\n\nNot to mention that there are treaties which say it's not allowed, though since when does anyone actually obey those things?
23168
NO COUNTRY SHOULD HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRUCTION!!!!\nBut if one country has them, there rest should be allowed to have them!
604862
Regardless of the desirability of doing so, there are serious questions about whether the US is actually capable of successfully intercepting the missile.  Trying but failing to intercept the missile would diminish America's military prestige and may tempt the North Koreans into further adventures.  On the other hand, doing nothing leaves Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and so on to think about facing such a threat on their own.  Last time, it inspired Japan to join us in trying to develop missile defense.  We have more to lose than to gain by trying -- and more to gain than to lose by not trying.
400330
It is  a catch 22 situation. If you don't sell arms to others, where does your arms industry go? And if you do, there is a real danger of them ending up being used against you. For example, Pakistan has provided nuclear techonology to North Korea. Now, that it is available, it can easily fall in the hands of terrorists who can use it to make dirty bombs that will make 9/11 look like a school picnic.
468697
nope, i have heard and read a few articles on this and there are no matching missle systems in the world,nothing can get past it as far as i know.
538960
nuclear warheads can be delivered as:\n\n1. bombs (obviously you don't need satellites for this)\n2. cruise missiles (Wikipedia: "The lowest cost system in wide use uses a radar altimeter, barometric altimeter and clock to navigate a digital strip map. Some systems may now use satellite navigation or inertial guidance, but these are substantially more expensive...")\n\nI think ballistic missiles need GPS but I'm not sure. either way we have plenty of nukes that don't need satellites, enough to destroy the world once over, I'm sure.
467900
It explodes down range, maybe with the now dead mosquito smeared across the warhead, and creates a cloud of radioactive material.\n\nWARNING:   I am taking this question seriously, if you want a joke go somewhere else.  If this is an attempted joke by the questioner then it is a pretty poor one and has no place on Yahoo Answers.\n\nSo you want to know what a Chinese mortar sized warhead will do when you fire it.  It will explode, with a bright flash, and generate a radioactive cloud, somewhere away from the launcher.\n\nAs for the mosquito it doesn't have enough mass to trigger the detonation, and most rockets or missiles have a safety that prevents them from exploding so close to the weapon.  So the mosquito will probably be smeared across the front of the warhead.  If the mosquito were near the edge of the warhead’s flight path then it would be killed by the force of the traveling warhead (even the shock wave created by the warhead passing by would be enough to kill it).  This mosquito’s body could possibly be burnt up in the exhaust of the system propelling the warhead.\n\nOne standard in the US Army is the 81mm Mortar.  During the Korean War the Chinese wanted to be able to use captured ammunition, but not let the US or South Korean soldiers use Chinese ammunition.  So they made there mortars just slightly larger.  A Chinese made mortar can fire a US mortar round, but a Chinese Mortar round won't fit into the barrel, since the Chinese use an 82 mm mortar round.\n\nMost missiles and rockets have a contact detonation system, especially those that are too small to hold a superior guidance system.  It takes a certain amount of force to detonate these warheads.  Normally that force is stronger than what a human can exert on the warhead while loading it.  So that means the tiny mosquito can't exert enough energy against the warhead to detonate it.  The warhead will continue to travel until it either meets something strong enough to detonate against or it falls to the ground and detonates.  Therefore the warhead explodes somewhere down range.\n\nNuclear weapons are complex weapons that require a near critical mass of either uranium or plutonium which is forced together under explosive energy to create the nuclear reaction that results in an atomic explosion.  A nuclear bomb either works or it doesn't.  There is no such thing as a semi-atomic explosion.  Exploding a nuclear bomb without starting the chain reaction just creates a dirty bomb, which spreads a cloud of radioactive material.\n\nHydrogen is a flammable gas than can be ignited and burned easily.  A fusion bomb causes the hydrogen atoms to fuse together and create the element helium.  This reaction takes huge pressure and high temperatures, conditions that can only be found inside of a star or inside of a nuclear explosion.  A hydrogen bomb uses an atomic bomb to set it off.  It requires an a-bomb as an igniter.  A normal explosion, no matter how great doesn’t have enough energy to create a fusion reaction.  So your cloud of radioactive material will have a lot of hydrogen in it.  The temperature of the explosion of the warhead is enough to ignite the hydrogen, making it burn.  If the bomb is geared to explode the hydrogen then it will explode adding a little extra force to the explosion.  If the hydrogen is applied to the surface of the bomb then most of it will just be blown away.  The metal will be hot enough to ignite it, but it may not be hot enough to create an explosion.  In fact the hydrogen will not be confined so it will only spread out in a burning cloud, which will expire quickly, creating a bright flash.\n\nThe result of launching your warhead is a normal explosion with a bright flash from the hydrogen and a cloud of radiation.
597420
If we keep permitting lunes to develop the resources to construct such a device (Iran, North Korea) and couple that with the Paki's, the conditions are in place. If nuclear war is the same as a pot-shot detonation, maybe in our harbor, or in the Persian Gulf, I think it's likely.
624567
No one should have Neclear Weapons.  If one blew up anywhere in the world it would affect every country.  The world as we know it would be gone.  Dangerous, dangerous things.