Patrick wrote:
> Unless we are willing to take 50 missile hits, I think our
> missile shield becomes irrelevant.
>
> Can China build 1,000 missiles? Does it have 1,000 missiles now? I don't
> know. I'm pulling a number out of thin air, admittedly.
>
This is what many see as the problem with the shield - they don't need to build
1000 missiles unless the shield can take out the missiles during boost, and
that's a long way off (only a laser can get to the missile fast enough) - all
they need is enough missiles to deploy 1000 warheads on different targets
(provided separation is far enough away that the shield needs to target them
individually).
The US has had this capability for decades, yet it seems to assume no-one else
can do it... As long as the shield is based on anti-missile missiles, the
reaction time from detection to confirmation to launch to acceleration means the
incoming missile has to be too close during interception.
Russell Chapman
Brisbane Australia
