Your 30 mile circle only takes out the farm belt. Your circle that covers the entire continental US is a burst altitude of 300 miles. And actually 30 miles is pretty high, that’s the top of the stratosphere, twice the altitude plains fly at in weather balloon territory.
planes, fingers got a mind of their own today.
Dude, the detonation doesn't have to be over Kansas. The laws of physics are the same 30 miles above Philadelphia. There goes the Boston to DC megalopolis. Or one over western Ohio...that takes out St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, all of Ohio, Louisville and Pittsburgh.
Either way, much of the country is unaffected, but most of the federal structure , financial heavyweights and heavy manufacturing is toast.
Oh, and 30 miles is nothing for any nation that has successfully orbited satellites...like Iran.
Your circle that covers the entire continental US is a burst altitude of 300 miles
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Iran’s ship-launched missile test - reached an altitude of 700 miles where it was detonated. Roughly the distance from a launch point 200 miles off Altantic coast to the detonation point over Chicago.
True. But detonate it over Pittsburg and you would wipe out the entire grid east of the Mississippi River and affect the majority of Americans.
relatively small rockets can go as high as 300 miles....these would be at suborbital velocities so they do not have to travel the requisite 17,000-18000mph that would be needed for orbital velocity...but they would still be at orbital altitudes....