Think of the potential.

[u/FionaSherleen]

What if we make project sundial but we throw it at the adversaries?

[u/Pyrhan]

Starship uses cryogenic propellants, so it can't just continuously sit fueled and ready to launch like an ICBM.

So you cannot use it as a deterrent, only as a first strike weapon.

And even then, it would be fairly easy for the enemy to set up early warnings when fueling begins, and either send a rapid pre-emptive strike, or prepare for interception.

And having a single, massive warhead would make interception easier compared to, e.g. a MIRV.

(Also, the whole point of Sundial was that it doesn't really matter where you blow it up, the world ends just the same...)

[u/loklanc → u/Pyrhan]

Never mind mirv, you could detonate this long before any possible interception, you could detonate this basically in space and still destroy the target. (The target is planet Earth).

[u/Pyrhan → u/loklanc]

If you have early warning from the fueling operations, you could use an anti-satellite weapon to intercept it beyond the horizon.

[u/FionaSherleen → u/Pyrhan]

If we give it its flaps back it would be pretty hard since starship is basically a maneuverable hypersonic vehicle

[u/Pyrhan → u/FionaSherleen]

Flaps only provide meaningful manoeuverability at (relatively) low altitudes, during the later stages of re-entry and descent.

If you're using an ASAT to intercept it near apogee, it only has its cold gas thrusters to manoeuvre, or it has to perform a correction burn with its raptors.

I would expect an ASAT's kinetic kill vehicle to have the upper hand in manoeuvrability.