Everything written here today (except the soccer post) started with an article on North Korea. That led to this, to that, to the white paper, and now I'm back to the DPRK and that headline.
Officials have praised left-of-launch strikes as a novel way of knocking out enemy missiles at a tiny fraction of the usual cost. In presentations and congressional testimony, senior officials have described the method as a potentially revolutionary way to strengthen the defenses of the United States.
I know something about this and,
[t]he idea...to strike an enemy missile before liftoff or during the first seconds of flight...,
[t]he idea...to strike an enemy missile before liftoff or during the first seconds of flight...,
has not been "hidden in plain sight" only to be revealed now as Newton revealed his invention of calculus, it is an old idea, that of MIT professor Ted Postol, to whom the U.S. turned eyes wide shut until now.
Professor Postol was a visible and vehement critic of the "Star Wars" missile defense shield and its "bullet-hitting-bullet" strategy of knocking incomings out of space. I can still see him and hear him on one of the news shows when the interviewer asked him about destroying the missiles on the launch pad or shortly after lift off.
"That would work!" Postol said and explained that the missile would be either stationary or (shortly after launch) traveling at relatively slow speed and trailing fire as opposed to flying 15,000 mph through space with no fire trail.
Postol's "left-of-launch" proposal made a certain amount of intuitive sense.
The old approach waited until much later — after swarms of warheads had been released, had traveled thousands of miles and were racing toward targets at speeds in excess of four miles a second.
Officials have praised left-of-launch strikes as a novel way of knocking out enemy missiles at a tiny fraction of the usual cost. In presentations and congressional testimony, senior officials have described the method as a potentially revolutionary way to strengthen the defenses of the United States.
Yeah, well, effective it would be, sensible it is, but novel it AIN'T! Credited in this story, co-written by David Sanger too, who should know better, are Gen Martin Dempsey, Adm Arthur Macy, Vice Adm James Syring, and Adm William Gortney. Prof Postol is not mentioned.
