An excellent question: Where are Star Wars critics now?
North Korea's threatening spate of missile launches — including an unsuccessful try with an advanced version of its Taepodong 2 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile that is capable of hitting the United States — has sparked a cacophony of talk from leaders and foreign policy experts around the world.
As they debate and discuss various options at the United Nations and in capitals around the globe, the rudimentary U.S. missile defense system is poised to shoot down anything launched from North Korea that threatens the American homeland or the critical interests of our regional allies like Japan and Australia.
Noticeably absent are the voices of those who, since President Reagan first proposed such a system in 1984, have fought development and deployment of the missile defense system the U.S. must now depend upon in dealing with North Korea.
Critics of Star Wars had two main points: 1. It can't posibly work. 2. It will escalate the arms race. All the bases covered.
Comments
Only TWO main points?....seems to only cover "stand-up doubles"...we've got TWO bases left...lol.
We currently have "delivery systems" (shhhhhhh) that can nail the missile ON THE PAD without even sending in any kind of "smart bomb", but I can't really confirm or deny it's existence.
(hint...think Dr. Evil...)
B.G.
Let us not forget that those two criticisms are still valid today
1. It doesn't work; cherry-picked interceptor tests not withstanding
2. It only leads to the development of warheads that can't be easily intercepted - like the ones Russia and China already have
The initial interceptor of the 1950's was the neutron bomb. The theory behind this was you could not get a kinetic hit, but that a large enough neutron burst would "destroy" the ability of the nuclear warhead from detonating.
Now let us move forward from 1950 to 2006. What changed: The speed of the delivery system is about the same. The accuracy of the missile is better which leads to a more "stable" trajectory. A more stable trajectory makes it easier to track and predict where it is. The problem with this is when something is moving at let say 10,000 mph this is nearly 15,000 feet a second. Therefore, it if takes a second to calculate its known location, you will be off by nearly three miles 1 second later.
This means you need very fast computers and real time data. Do we have fast computers, yes? Do we have better radar than years before, yes? Can we identify a rocket lift off, yes? We now have computers that can calculate the precise location and plot the trajectory to the inch. Is there anything out there that combines these systems with kill platform(s)? Loose lips sink ships.