The Republican Congress recently put a yuge down pay on the fulfillment of President Ronald Reagan’s desire of corporate missile defence in response to President Donald Trump’s claim of a” Golden Dome” against nuclear strike.
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A secondary defence spending item, including$ 27 billion for Trump’s Golden Dome, was announced by Congressional Republicans on Thursday. The bill also includes funding for the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ( THAAD ) anti-missile systems, and” Elon Musk’s SpaceX and partners are anticipated to play a key role in missile tracking infrastructure,” in addition to funding for 14 new anti-missile warships.
Reagan made some pretty crazy-sounding ideas that were almost impossible back therefore and aren’t much more likely then when he announced his Strategic Defense Initiative ( SDI) in 1983. Things like a network of planetary laser programs and electron beam arms, as well as” smart rocks” and actually “brilliant pebbles” are included. As a teenager, that last one captivated my mind and never left.
But here’s the deal: Americans may ultimately find solutions if they invest enough time, money, and engineering expertise in a trouble.
Since 1983, SDI, or BMD, has evolved greatly. We also have a few Military land-based systems, plus more on the way, in addition to the Navy’s AEGIS networks, which you shoot down everything from helicopters to spacecraft. Additionally, some enthralling scanners and satellites to track threats and connect the various protective layers.
How much of it is still cheap is one thing that hasn’t changed since 1983. Although we do have powerful BMD techniques, we do not have enough. We can ( probably ) protect ourselves from a rogue nation like North Korea’s limited nuclear attack, but that’s about it. Reagan’s vision of preventing nuclear death in our cities is still a desire for the time being.  ,
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According to Mark Montgomery, top producer of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, “at least 70 or 80 % of the solutions applied should be going toward a program that will not demonstrate itself during the Trump management.” Before you get to excited, experts advise caution: deploying a global BMD community will be an “intergenerational” project.
But, Congress ‘ fresh funds priorities are a significant step in the right direction.
Although it isn’t frequently appreciated, for decades we’ve had cellular missile defence platforms that are quite good, such as the Navy’s guided-missile ships. On December 7, 1941, the Navy expressed a strong desire to halt flying threats, but that interest only grew even more so as the Japanese developed bomber tactics. Essentially, an autonomous bomber is an anti-ship weapon.
But a lot of what a contemporary warship does is now weapon defense, and a nuclear warhead is essentially a very quick, very little missile. It’s more challenging to strike, yes, but the idea, which the Navy has worked on for longer than I’ve ever been dead, is the same.
The Navy’s SM-3 Standard Missile has been in use since 2014 and can take down incoming nuclear weapons or even army satellites ( they have come up with cool names ). A single SM-3 costs between$ 10 million and$ 28 million, so we only produced about 400 for us and our allies, depending on the model and its capability.  ,
Consider losing a area, though, if you think an SM-3 is cheap.  ,
Reagan’s critics always appeared to grasp any of this or feigned not to do so in order to gain political benefit. I don’t have to think about leaving this nation vulnerable to a nuclear attack just to get a dozen seats because I saw it.
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Let me close with an anecdote that highlights how effective yet our tiny amount of BMD methods are.
My father-in-law worked for a little BMD company for about 20 years after leaving the Air Force. One of his responsibilities was coordinating between the various components needed for BMD to operate, typically out of Pearl-Hickam in Hawaii, with a list of certifications that was as much as your shoulder. He wasn’t given permission to enter a space.
I created a situation for him about ten years ago that involved China conducting a theater-wide walk assault on our naval and air bases across the Pacific.
He declared,” I’d like to see them try,” with unwavering optimism as a fighter-pilot.
It’s nice to know that our uniformed personnel at crucial locations around the world are protected by BMD. Even so, it will be nicer when every city in America adopts it. Reagan may have loved it, even if it wouldn’t be forthcoming or affordable.  ,
Encouraged: Pakistan and India Are VERY close to fighting once more.
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