BandidoDesconocido t1_je42gbi wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:16 AM

Reply to comment by CheeseSandwich in TIL intercontinental ballistic missiles use celestial navigation to check and correct their course (initially set using internal gyroscopes) while flying outside the Earth's atmosphere. by Captainmanic

Worth noting that when it comes to nuclear bombs, you probably don't need to be that accurate. Get within a couple kms of the target and you're good.

Seraph062 t1_je6g3ku wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:18 PM

This isn't true.
If you're a monster that just wants to run up a body count you can get away with 'a couple of kms' from your target. But if you want to attack hardened (military) targets, using a warhead you can actually carry on an ICBM, you'll need to get <1km levels of accuracy. If you want to shrink warheads (so you can carry more than one per missile) then you need to be even more precise.