Do Hypersonic Missiles Make Defense Systems Obsolete? 365
An anonymous reader writes "The Diplomat's Zachary Keck wonders why the U.S. government is doubling down on missile defense systems even as hypersonic missiles threaten to render them obsolete. Keck notes that hypersonic missiles pose two distinct challenges to current missile defense systems. First, they travel far faster than the missiles the defense systems are designed to intercept. Second, they travel at lower altitudes and possess greater maneuverability than the missiles the current systems have been built to destroy. Nonetheless, the U.S. was planning on spending $2 billion a year on missile defense through 2017, and now the Pentagon is asking for an additional $4.5 billion over the next five years."
Hypersonic missiles (Score:2, Informative)
It would be great if someone launched a hypersonic missile towards Beta.
here's the thing (Score:5, Informative)
If the enemy doesn't have good targets, these missiles don't accomplish much.
According to Richard Clarke:
As early as Sept. 12, 2001, Clarke says, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged bombing Iraq despite repeated assurances from intelligence officials that the threat emanated from Afghanistan.
"Rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq," Clarke said on Sunday's 60 Minutes. "I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it.' "
Do Hypersonic Styles Make Slashdot Obsolete? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bee Keepers and the Audience (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why use missiles? (Score:4, Informative)
Who needs expensive hypersonic missiles when you got religion and fanatics.
The side without the religious fanatics.