[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I’ve speculated in past that a space shuttle cargo bay full of grapefruit to bowling ball sized hardened ceramic balls, if dumped at once, could leave a lasting impact over an area many square miles across.

Much simpler than a concept like ‘The Rods of God’, and an area weapon instead of a point weapon, once deployed, there would be no possible defense.

Depending on altitude, the space shuttle could be on the far side of the planet when these were deployed, so far out of harms range itself.

[Smokin' Joe]

It sounds reasonable to me, as far as weapons go. Kinetic energy is the major factor in sabot rounds and antimissile weapons today. Who would need a nuke (and all the troubles keeping the device functional) with a 1000+ kg mass coming in hot, much less a cluster of them?

I figured the right spot on the moon could throw rocks all day, and still have time to take out any incoming retaliatory strikes long before they got there.