In case you missed it, the LA Times had a helpful article over the weekend about the, shall we say, “flaws” in the missile defense program Bush is so fond of. As the Times explained, to destroy a missile in the boost-phase of the existing system requires an unprecedented coordination of space-based sensors, signal-analysis computers, interceptor agility and enough sheer thrust to lift a 10-ton object to about 20 times the speed of sound in less than a minute.
Yet, the more money we pump into the program, the more tests that fail, and the more the entire scheme looks ridiculous, it becomes apparent that the tasks involved may not be physically possible.
The boost phase reaches into an even more complex realm of design, in part because of the speed with which it must identify and destroy an enemy missile.
The payoff could be big. Terry Little, executive director of the government’s Missile Defense Agency, said the boost-phase interceptors could destroy 80% to 90% of enemy ICBMs, leaving the other layers to take care of the rest.
But a recent Congressional Budget Office technical report suggested that the boost-phase system, scheduled for deployment in 2011, would press the far edge of what was physically possible in an antimissile system.
Philip Coyle, who headed the Pentagon’s testing office during the Clinton administration, said the design of the boost-phase system was already buckling under its own complexity.
“The [congressional] analysis confirmed that boost-phase missile defense isn’t practicable,” Coyle said. “You can’t fool mother nature.”
Well, you can try if you believe you can create your own reality.