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Originally Posted by lunchbox
if a country has the nukes and is set on using them on you, i dont think the missile defense system is whats gonna save your ass. What if it was strapped on a plane and crashed into a city?
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Actually, the plane is a much easier kill. Standard SAM can take down any subsonic aircraft, and some can take down supersonic... but when you're talking a warhead that's essentially making a re-entry approach from the outer atmosphere, no missile can move fast enough to catch it. Best you can do is try to intercept it at its slowest points: either at launch while it's still accelerating, or at the peak of its arc (preferably before it separates into its multiple warheads in the case of MIRVs). At least in the case of projectiles vs. projectiles.
If you use something that goes much faster (lasers, say) then it just becomes a matter of tracking. Thing is, in order to track and kill an intercontinental inbound, you have to be above the continent to really do anything worthwhile; Lasers don't just *poof* things, you have to focus and apply energy for a period of time long enough to dust it, and atmosphere attenuates the beam... so in order to have an effective defense, you basically end up with orbital weapons platforms that can easily be turned offensive.