If the military is worried about delivery systems' accuracy, Phil Karn already mentioned kamikazies, but if you don't want to make suicide part of
No suicide pact necessary.... the flight control deck of many modern airliners is Totally fly by wire... there are different communications protocols and buses... all controlled by eprom driven micros ... as well as the loaded flight plans... while NOT trivial is is completelyt within the realm of reason to be able to freely subvert say the inputs coming from the navigational subsystems to divert said craft as well as locking off external inputs(e.g. pilots). A 757 or Airbus coming in at 300-600 knots with a 1/4 to 1/2 fuel load makes a very respectable cruise missle... the passengers merely being "collateral damage". To a more limited degree replacement and subversion of the eproms in a modern days car's Engine control module has already been done... witness rechipping for performance... the same can be done for more malicious actions... As far as the 757 flight control deck software issue... its only a matter of time... ANY computer controlled conveyance can be subverted... elevators, robot factories etc... ALL of the control and telemetery protocols are currently unprotected... The other trend is the new environmental control systems for HVAC, security etc used in modern skyscrapers... cracking and subverting one of these could be just as disruptive as a cruise missle while not taking lives... Happy New Years kelly... BTW more and more modern cities are installing control systems tied into relatively unprotected display systems(i.e. little or no security and no encryption) the utilities are just as guilty I wonder how long it will be before the terrorists get a clue...
the package, you could always just have someone drop a radio transmitter on your target sometime in advance, possibly a day or two. The missile can then home in on the signal. (If you need to get it inside a high-security area, you could always encase it in foam and drop it from a model airplane or launch it in a model rocket.) Or you could just leave a suitcase with a timed bomb at your target location; plutonium bombs can be very small.
It boggles my mind that the military mind prevents the use of tools that are just too complicated for the "bad guys" to bother with. Does CBS have an email address yet? :)
-- Scott Northrop <northrop@netcom.com> (206)784-2083 ObVirus: The demand for obedience is inherently evil. ObVirus2: As a juror in a Trial by Jury, you have the right, power and duty to acquit the defendant if you judge the law itself to be unjust.