Missile-Defense System Won’t Stop Nukes


A report to be released Thursday by the Union of Concerned Scientists claims the U.S. missile-defense system is “simply unable to protect the U.S. public” and is in need of serious additional oversight. Three physicists with missile-defense expertise argue that “the Pentagon has sacrificed quality, shortened engineering cycles, and sidestepped acquisitions best practices to meet a deadline imposed by political rationales rather than technical realities.” Though the system is meant to thwart a nuclear attack from Iran or North Korea with rocket interceptors launched from silos at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Alaska’s Fort Greely, Pentagon officials have made “unsubstantiated claims about the system’s effectiveness.” The authors called it a “disservice to the public” and ask that the matter be rectified as soon as possible.