Sen. Mark Kelly says Trump administration's $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request is "outrageous"

[Igel]

2. I remember when "using a missile to shoot down a missile" was considered cray-cray.

Why? Because (a) it was damned expensive, (b) the physics was hard, even for those with degrees in mathy things like accounting, much closer to physics than, say, lawyering and poli-sci-ing, but those physics folk managed to pull it off, with help from the comp sci peeps.

Now it's assumed. And all those saying how impossible it was are either dead, having gone silent; or still alive, and having gone silent. Because while the physics was 'hard' and every failed test may have advanced the project, every failed test was evidence that it could never, ever, work. "Star Wars" and all that crap. Until it entered production with non-trivial success rates. Until it's assumed. (And those who were wrong, well, if you don't mention you were wrong allies will never bring it up, right?)

"Golden Dome" is just more of the same with much shorter time frames because of higher velocities of incoming and greater distances. Because delta-t = delta-x/ v. (I want to say that this is the 'really hard physics', but it's not so I won't.) Can it work? Dunno. Depends on hypersonics and distribution of anti-missile installations. But if it did, for sure the PRC and Russia would stroke out, so, hey, it's a worthwhile gamble.