Breach

Breach or The Breach may refer to:

Places

Law

Science and technology

Breach (The Wallflowers album)

(Breach) is the third studio album by The Wallflowers. The album's first single was "Sleepwalker," the video of which poked fun at Dylan's "rock star" status following the success of Bringing Down the Horse. Guests on the album included Elvis Costello, who lent vocals on "Murder 101". Despite good reviews, the album failed to follow the commercial success of Bringing Down the Horse and was seen as somewhat of a commercial failure. "Breach" peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold.

Reception

Despite weak album sales, "Breach" managed to receive strong reviews from critics. Allmusic said of the album: "On the surface, there's not much different between this album and its predecessor, but the songs are stronger, sharper, and the performances are lean, muscular, and immediate." Rolling Stone was also receptive of the album, stating: "The slow stuff might be a bit ponderous, but the first six or seven songs manage a rare trick: They're incandescent enough to jump out at you on the radio, yet are steeped in a type of introspective inquiry that was once integral to rock & roll, and has nearly vanished."

Breach (film)

Breach is a 2007 American historical and political thriller film directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay by Ray, Adam Mazer and William Rotko is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his assistant and helped bring about his downfall. O'Neill served as a consultant on the film. The film received generally positive reviews.

Plot

Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is a young FBI employee assigned to work undercover as a clerk to Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), a senior agent he is told is suspected of being a sexual deviant. Hanssen has been recalled from a detail post at the State Department to FBI headquarters ostensibly to head up a new division specializing in Information Assurance.

Initially, Hanssen insists on a strict formality between the two men. He frequently rails against the bureaucracy of the FBI and complains that only those who regularly "shoot guns" are considered for senior positions instead of those, like himself, who are involved in vital national security matters. He calls the bureau's information technology systems antiquated and laments the lack of coordination and information exchange with other intelligence agencies.

Intercontinental ballistic missile

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi) primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Similarly conventional, chemical and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target.

Early ICBMs had limited accuracy (circular error probable) that allowed them to be used only against the largest targets such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against (especially hardened) military targets, if desired, still demanded the use of a more precise manned bomber. This is due to the inverse-square law, which predicts that the amount of energy dispersed from a single point release of energy (such as a thermonuclear blast) dissipates by the inverse of the square of distance from the single point of release. The result is that the power of a nuclear explosion to rupture hardened structures is greatly decreased by the distance from the impact point of the nuclear weapon. So a near-direct hit is generally necessary, as only diminishing returns are gained by increasing bomb yield.