From: mikkelhaaheim@gmail.com   
      
   At the speeds involved, there is very little actual transit time. Furthermore,   
   given the kinetic energies involved, there is nothing that the target will be   
   able to do abomut the attack. The reason for a near tangential approach is   
   that you are not    
   wasting energy on penetrating ground ( you only want enough penetration for   
   bunkers), and any defending air traffic is going to be swept away. As I   
   explained earlier, the principal is the same as civil war cannon fire. You do   
   not lob a cannon ball up    
   into the air. You fire it low to ground. That way, it doesn't just strike (or   
   miss) one target, it keeps on rolling through targets (literally) until its   
   inertia is spent. Same thing here. The tangential vector will take out air   
   defenses, and continue on    
   to blast through multitudes of grond troops and fortifications. There are two   
   reasons for the bus: the first is that it allows for some deflection of   
   approach angle and targetting, as well as more controlled dispersion; and the   
   second is that it    
   decreases the required mass of ablative shielding, allowing for greter masses   
   to be concentrated for the kinetic attack. Independent projectiles fired   
   individually will burn up too fast.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)