Today I learned that a lot of major countries have an anti-nuclear missile program except the US

@SimplyTracie yea. You have ABM but it's extremely limited in scope capable of only dealing with something like a rogue nation.

@SimplyTracie Unless I missed a news update, the US does not yet have a proven, reliable, and deployed means of shooting down ICBMs. They are certainly working on it, though.

@marcusaurelius How do you know this?

@SimplyTracie wikipedia?

[quote]The U.S. Sentinel program was a planned national missile defense during the 1970s, but was never deployed. Elements of Sentinel were actually deployed briefly as the Safeguard Program, although it was not national in scope. United States has had in development a nationwide antimissile program since the 1990s. After the renaming in 2002, the term now refers to the entire program, not just the ground-based interceptors and associated facilities.

Other elements yet to be integrated into NMD (National Missile Defense) may include anti-ballistic missiles, or sea-based, space-based, laser, and high-altitude missile systems. The NMD program is limited in scope and designed to counter a relatively small ICBM attack from a less sophisticated adversary. Unlike the earlier Strategic Defense Initiative program, it is not designed to be a robust shield against a large attack from a technically sophisticated adversary.[32]

As of 2012, this system is operational with limited capability. In early April 2013, the Pentagon announced plans to deploy 14 more missile interceptors (GBIs) to Alaska in response to the North Korean threats to deliver nuclear weapons to the United States.[33] A THAAD battery was deployed to Guam as well.[34][/quote]

@JohnYahYah Whaat? That can’t be true. We have the most advanced military systems in the world.

I don’t know if that’s true but I’m sure our military’s defense capabilities are second to none.

@FelixLegion I don’t know if that’s true but I’m sure our military’s defense capabilities are second to none.

@SimplyTracie The US has some ability to shoot down shorter ranged missles like SCUDs, but true ICBMs are a different animal altogether.
While the navy may be getting close to being able to, with luck, shoot down a single missile at launch, there is still no way to defend against a concerted launch of many ICBMs. This has been the case since 1960 or so.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/09/no-we-cannot-shoot-down-north-koreas-missiles/141070/

@FelixLegion Why do we need more carriers? We have enough to protect our nation.

@SimplyTracie agreed, we already have enough carriers.

@FelixLegion thin compared to whom?
We can't afford to maintain 21 carriers. Not without major tax increases.

@JohnYahYah Well, we’re in deep shit then. Maybe we should be about peaceful solutions and not threaten other nations then, huh? 🙄

@FelixLegion have you looked at the deficit lately?

@FelixLegion I can't imagine what the CNO's motivation for asking for more ships might be...

@FelixLegion America First. No?

We have too many 🇺🇸 Veterans back home that needs our attention. Take care of them first.