John Marston
Senior Member
Over the last decade, the agency has sunk nearly $10 billion into SBX and three other programs that had to be killed or sidelined after they proved unworkable.
Trying to fashion a shield against a sneak missile attack, military planners gambled on costly projects that flopped, leaving a hole in U.S. homeland defense.
Leaders of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency were effusive about the new technology.
It was the most powerful radar of its kind in the world, they told Congress. So powerful it could detect a baseball over San Francisco from the other side of the country.
In reality, the giant floating radar has been a $2.2-billion flop, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.
In addition to SBX, the programs were:
- The Airborne Laser, envisioned as a fleet of converted Boeing 747s that would fire laser beams to destroy enemy missiles soon after launch, before they could release decoys.
The cost: $5.3 billion.
- The Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a rocket designed to be fired from land or sea to destroy enemy missiles during their early stage of flight.
The cost: $1.7 billion.
- The Multiple Kill Vehicle, a cluster of miniature interceptors that would destroy enemy missiles along with any decoys.
The cost: nearly $700 million.
Source
Expensive missteps really have become a trademark of the Missile Defense Agency. Like as the majority of lastest Pentagon`s research activities.
Whatever the military wants the military gets. None of these projects have been shown to do anything to improve the lives of fellow Americans
Trying to fashion a shield against a sneak missile attack, military planners gambled on costly projects that flopped, leaving a hole in U.S. homeland defense.
Leaders of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency were effusive about the new technology.
It was the most powerful radar of its kind in the world, they told Congress. So powerful it could detect a baseball over San Francisco from the other side of the country.
In reality, the giant floating radar has been a $2.2-billion flop, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.
In addition to SBX, the programs were:
- The Airborne Laser, envisioned as a fleet of converted Boeing 747s that would fire laser beams to destroy enemy missiles soon after launch, before they could release decoys.
The cost: $5.3 billion.
- The Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a rocket designed to be fired from land or sea to destroy enemy missiles during their early stage of flight.
The cost: $1.7 billion.
- The Multiple Kill Vehicle, a cluster of miniature interceptors that would destroy enemy missiles along with any decoys.
The cost: nearly $700 million.
Source
Expensive missteps really have become a trademark of the Missile Defense Agency. Like as the majority of lastest Pentagon`s research activities.
Whatever the military wants the military gets. None of these projects have been shown to do anything to improve the lives of fellow Americans