Aegis Triumphant

AEGIS-BMD: CG-70 launches SM-3

From Strategy Page:

The U.S. Navy, capitalizing on the success of its SM3 anti-missile missile, wants to equip more ships with it. So far, the seagoing Aegis radar system has used SM-3s to knock down nearly 90 percent of the test missiles fired towards it. This includes shooting down a low flying space satellite. There are 18 U.S. Navy ships equipped with SM-3, and the navy would like enough money to equip all of its Aegis equipped ships (90) with the SM-3. This is expensive, as it costs a few million bucks to upgrade the Aegis radar and install the new software. And then there are the SM-3 missiles, which cost three million dollars each. The navy won't say how many SM-3 missiles are on each ship equipped to handle them, but it's probably something like at least a dozen. So to equip over 80 additional Aegis ships with SM-3 would cost over three billion dollars.

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My Comment: I remembered critics (25 years ago) saying that the idea of missiles knocking down other missiles was ridiculous, and that supporters of such a technology .... with Edward Teller being the outspoken scientist in support for developing this technology .... had to be ostracized and ridiculed (which they and President Reagan were).

Those pioneers who were confident that this technology will develop to what it is today are now gone, but their legacy and the fruits of their determination still lives. I am sure that 25 years from now .... the developments and progress that will be made will astound us even more.