Washington has already spent a trillion dollars on the war in Afghanistan, but continues to save on protecting the United States from missile attacks, writes Forbes columnist Lauren Thompson, EDNews reports citing BulgarianMilitary.com.
According to him, from 2001 to 2019, the American authorities invested only $ 50 billion in their missile defense system.
Thompson believes that the savings are due to the fact that Washington relies on the tactics of “massive retaliation”, designed to restrain Russia and the United States.
“It was cheaper to threaten the terrible consequences than to build a real defense,” the journalist notes.
At the same time, the probability of a retaliatory nuclear strike may not stop, for example, the DPRK, he said.
As insurance, the United States created the “Land Missile Defense System on the mid-flight section of the flight,” or GMD for short. In theory, this complex should intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles in the middle of their flight, that is, in space. Almost all of the $ 50 billion allocated for national security was spent on this project.
According to Thompson, the system can indeed intercept some kind of “accidentally launched missile”, but with a massive strike it will be useless, since there are only 44 missiles on its armament.
At the same time, several shells may be needed to intercept one target.
Congress has already decided to increase their number by 20 and deploy by 2022. However, this does not solve the problem, the browser believes. He believes that North Korea may have nuclear missiles with maneuverable warheads.
Intelligence analysts have identified 49 potential adversary rocket enhancements that could become GMD issues. Thompson is sure missile defense needs serious modernization.
On February 28, Admiral Charles Richard, the head of the Strategic Command (STRATK) of the US armed forces, announced the inability of the American missile defense to intercept Russian missiles.