Missile Defence System Works By Appointment Only

[Mulboyne]

[MeinJapanLongTime]

There was a glitch in the missile.
Hitting a missile in flight is not an easy task. Failures during testing are to be expected. Look at how many satellite launches fail on a regular basis. Rocket Science isn't easy. ^_^

[Mulboyne]

There was a glitch in the missile.
Hitting a missile in flight is not an easy task. Failures during testing are to be expected...

This is undoubtedly true. However, politicians and military chiefs around the world are often guilty of playing down the possibility of failures, fearful that defence spending will be cut back. The public deserves a more mature discussion of the effectiveness of military technology otherwise there will continue to be unrealistic expectations.

[samuraiwig]

All organizations are the same. Gotta spend the money somehow to get budget for next year. Blowing it up over the Pacific sounds as good a way as any of doing that.

Missile Defence System Works By Appointment Only

This reminds me of emergency drills in Japan. Tell everyone a week in advance there'll be a fire/earthquake drill, what time they need to be where, and not to make any noise on the way out of the building. I'm sure these will save lots of lives when the big one actually hits.

[MeinJapanLongTime]

This is undoubtedly true. However, politicians and military chiefs around the world are often guilty of playing down the possibility of failures, fearful that defence spending will be cut back. The public deserves a more mature discussion of the effectiveness of military technology otherwise there will continue to be unrealistic expectations.

I always find it interesting when bean counters and politicians cut spending and manpower and still expect things to work--especially very complex things.