NMD == waste of money.

Post #2,906 by pwhysall 7/27/01 2:39:21 AM Reply	NMD == waste of money. The first nuke bound for the USA will prolly arrive in a backpack or suitcase. -- Peter Shill For Hire
Post #2,919 by Simon_Jester 7/27/01 8:36:08 AM Reply	That and history has shown that defensive arms races never work. Both World Wars involved defensive arms races...and the countries that relied on them both lost. Stainless steel traps breed stainless steel rats.
Post #2,936 by addison 7/27/01 10:58:00 AM Reply	What would you have said in the 30s? 50s? Was the atomic bomb a waste of money? (Heisenberg about single-handedly convinced the Nazis it was, and he should be canonized for that). Was the space program a waste of money? Airplanes? Telephones? Every new tech, every new system has always had someone saying exactly that. "Its a waste of money, it'll never work, why bother". And giving up because a solitary bomb might be carried in, well, that's true enough. Are you going to talk the RN into stopping patrolling their bases, cause, after all, someone could walk up to the base, and detonate one, so it would be pointless? So in that case, its pointless. But since, by definition, you don't know what case is about to come up.. be prepared for as much as you can. Maybe intercepting ballistic missiles is almost impossible with other projectiles. (I don't think it is, but we'll see). BTW, the RN has an excellent anti-missile system. (Seawolf?). The write ups on it I've seen all said to the effect of ~"If this were made and sold by the US, it would be standard equipment for every Western country". Which leads me to believe that its not an impossible thing to do. And being prepared for one eventuality is a good thing. Addison
Post #3,081 by Simon_Jester 7/30/01 3:26:54 PM Reply	Question... BTW, the RN has an excellent anti-missile system. (Seawolf?). The write ups on it I've seen all said to the effect of ~"If this were made and sold by the US, it would be standard equipment for every Western country". This anti-missile system, protects the ship, right? Stainless steel traps breed stainless steel rats.
Post #3,088 by addison 7/30/01 3:57:04 PM Reply	Re: Question... Sorry. Its not ballistic missile defense but a localized anti-missile defense. Ship, task force, etc. I think they've also now got a land-based version for base defense (which would be like the Patriot) (Which was cancelled by President Carter because it had the potential to be ABM) (In theory). Addison
Post #3,116 by Simon_Jester 7/30/01 7:01:55 PM Reply	The same Patriot missile system used in Desert Storm? and which also had a success factor of 1% (or something like that)? Stainless steel traps breed stainless steel rats.
Post #3,120 by addison 7/30/01 7:23:35 PM Reply	The very same. But DS wasn't a fair comparison... City defense wasn't what it was built for. So I don't know how effective it was, or would have been. Personally, I thought it was rather ineffective. But its use in DS was political, without regard for its use. (remember, it was designed as anti-aircraft, and is good enough to - sometimes - catch semi-ballistic missiles.) Addison

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