Iran launched 120 ballistic missiles at the Zionist entity earlier this month (Wikipedia) and most of them were shot down.
America’s expert class ridiculed Ronald Reagan for his credulous belief that ballistic missiles could be intercepted either in space or on their way down to earth. The Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) was Edward Teller‘s dumbest idea ever, certainly! New York Times, 1985:
A computer scientist has resigned from an advisory panel on antimissile defense, asserting that it will never be possible to program a vast complex of battle management computers reliably or to assume they will work when confronted with a salvo of nuclear missiles.
The scientist, David L. Parnas, a professor at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, who is a consultant to the Office of Naval Research in Washington, was one of nine scientists asked by the Stategic Defense Initiative Office to serve at $1,000 a day on the ”panel on computing in support of battle management.”
Professsor Parnas, an American citizen with secret military clearances, said in a letter of resignation June 28 and in 17 pages of accompanying memorandums that it would never be possible to test realistically the large array of computers that would link and control a system of sensors, antimissile weapons, guidance and aiming devices, and battle management stations.
Imagine a dusty academic quitting an easy job that paid $1000/day in pre-Biden money! At official government-certified CPI, that’s equivalent to nearly $3000/day right now.
The geniuses at the New York Times were so fond of feeling smarter than Reagan that they were still talking about this after Reagan had left office. From 1993, for example:
Star Wars can never work as a defensive system because there are too many targets in the U.S. and because the weapons arrayed against it are too diverse and powerful.
But do the recent interceptions of Iranian missiles prove that Ronald Reagan was actually smarter than the expert class?
Separately, the Iranian attack seriously injured a 7-year-old Muslim Israeli. Given that 20 percent of Israel’s population is Muslim, what is the plan among the Iranians, Houthis, Gazans, et al., who are going to destroy the Zionist entity? How will they protect fellow Muslims and, especially, Muslim children?
> How will they protect fellow Muslims and, especially, Muslim children?
The Iranian government is dominated by Shia.
The Muslims in Israel are Suni.
I wonder if spacex can make ICBMs or ABMs that can be reloaded? Turn the boosters around and load ’em up with fresh MIRVs or interceptors
The geniuses at the Times didn’t know the plural of memorandum in 1985?
And this before affirmative action…
Loyalties in the middle east are based on clan and tribe not religion. The Israeli series Fauda depicts this well & shows how Israel is able to pick off the terrorist elite – because they bribe a different clan for info. Most of middle east history over at least 1,000 years is Muslim clans and tribes slaughtering other clans and tribes. The Shia Sunni thing is just another excuse to slaughter each other. I mean, Shia Iran is quite happy to launch rockets at Shia Saudi & form alliances with Sunni Hamas.
At least they all agree on colonizing and population bombing every formerly Christian country.
Doubt Reagan knew anything other than how to read speeches, but he definitely got famous for inventing missile defense from Mitch Murder In the News.
The iron dome system of Israel fame was invented neither by Reagan nor US but Israel. No amerikan system would be cheap enough to be any use.
Israel seems to produce very few PhDs annually, and many of them detecting to US academia. Thus Israeli academia has limited capacity to grandstand. Most of Israeli Ph Ds are humanitarians and they have no idea that it is hard to hit a rocket with a rocket.
I think it is the first time that I’ve read something about the current ballistic missile intercept technology and the Strategic Defense Initiative. I do believe that the missiles of the Islamic Republic, while better than the rockets launched by Hamas, are probably not as advanced as other ICBMs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ICBMs). However, it is clear that current technology makes it feasible to intercept ICBMs. You make very good observation. I hope the NYT takes a look at your blog and produces an article on the subject. AI will probably make the ICBM interception business a lot simpler.
Iran ballistic missles were more advanced then current generation of ICBMs in service as they are newer and incorporate recent ideas and technology. They employed decoys and separable maneuverable warheads. Who needs NYT? Check expert comments online.
At the time, the technology was not Advanced enough for effective missile defense. After all, it’s only three or four decades later that is the fence is actually becoming relevant.
Reagan knew “Star Wars” was decades away. He used it to command his opponents.
Reagan’s leadership strategy was simple: be in command at all times, and never tell your opponents when your bluffing. And oh yes, every now and than, use jokes to humiliates your opponents.
Was it? US Navy’s Aegis dates to 1980th, back than it could track hundreds of aerial threats.
Reagan’s jokes were funny, and those related to former USSR were well informed.
SDI-related interceptors probably exist but remain classified.