Orbital kinetic weapons as counterforce systems

Could an orbital 'rod from God' be more destructive than a nuclear weapon?

It could deliver enormous kinetic damage, but nuclear-scale effects would require too much mass; a strike against a hardened missile silo is a more plausible role.

The destructive effect of an orbital kinetic weapon rises with the mass sent into orbit and brought safely through re-entry. Reaching the energy of a megaton-scale explosion would require thousands of tons, making the system a poor substitute for a nuclear blast. A narrower counterforce role is more credible: a smaller projectile arriving at very high speed might pierce a hardened missile silo and disable a land-based launcher. That use would threaten one part of a nuclear force while stealth bombers pursued mobile launchers and submarines pursued the ballistic-missile submarine fleet. The concept would also encourage competitors to acquire similar systems, while a known weapon-carrying satellite could be tracked.