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US newly developed powerful radar worth $ 2.2 billion proves ineffective

ChineseTiger1986

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The project not only wasted taxpayer money but left a hole in the nation’s defenses, The Los Angeles Times noted

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LOS ANGELES, April 5. /TASS/. The Sea-Based X-Band Radar, developed and designed by the Pentagon, which was supposed to become the core element of US’ missile defense system, turned out to be ineffective, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

"If North Korea launched a sneak attack, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar - SBX for short - would spot the incoming missiles, track them through space and guide US rocket-interceptors to destroy them," the newspaper said. "In reality, the giant floating radar has been a $2.2-billion flop, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. Although it can powerfully magnify distant objects, its field of vision is so narrow that it would be of little use against what experts consider the likeliest attack: a stream of missiles interspersed with decoys," the article states.

"SBX was supposed to be operational by 2005. Instead, it spends most of the year mothballed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii," The LA Times said. However, "the project not only wasted taxpayer money but left a hole in the nation’s defenses," the newspaper noted.

The US Missile Defense Agency has spent around $10 billion on ineffective programs over the last years, according to the newspaper. At least three other projects turned out unsuccessful. Among them are the Airborne Laser aimed at destroying enemy missiles soon after launch (project closed in 2012, cost $5.3 billion), the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (closed in 2009 after six years of development, cost $1.7 billion) and the Multiple Kill Vehicle (program shelved after four years of development, cost $700 million).

TASS: World - US newly developed powerful radar worth $ 2.2 billion proves ineffective
 
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http://graphics.latimes.com/missile-defense/

In addition to SBX, the programs were:

• The Airborne Laser, envisioned as a fleet of converted Boeing 747s that would fire laser beams to destroy enemy missiles soon after launch, before they could release decoys.

It turned out that the lasers could not be fired over sufficient distances, so the planes would have to fly within or near an enemy’s borders continuously. That would leave the 747s all but defenseless against antiaircraft missiles. The program was canceled in 2012, after a decade of testing.

The cost: $5.3 billion.

• The Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a rocket designed to be fired from land or sea to destroy enemy missiles during their early stage of flight. The interceptor was too long to fit on Navy ships, and on land, it would have to be positioned so close to its target that it would be vulnerable to attack. The program was killed in 2009, after six years of development.

The cost: $1.7 billion.

• The Multiple Kill Vehicle, a cluster of miniature interceptors that would destroy enemy missiles along with any decoys. In 2007 and 2008, the Missile Defense Agency trumpeted it as a “transformational program” and a cost-effective “force multiplier.” After four years of development, the agency’s contractors had not conducted a single test flight, and the program was shelved.

The cost: nearly $700 million.

These expensive flops stem in part from a climate of anxiety after Sept. 11, 2001, heightened by warnings from defense hawks that North Korea and Iran were close to developing long-range missiles capable of reaching the United States.
 
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Pointless

All of the failed American far-fetched military programs were designed to blunt its near-peer military competitor.

However, by definition, a near-peer competitor possesses qualitatively near-equivalent technology. Thus, it is impossible to gain a substantial edge on a near-peer competitor. Science develops slowly over decades. When a near-peer competitor catches you, the technological gap is pretty infinitesimal.

America needs to recognize the reality. The only solution to a near-peer competitor is compromise. There is no military solution.
 
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The Sea-Based X-Band Radar was obviously aimed at Russia and China, but North Korea was the excuse. It's the same situation with missile defense against Iran in Europe. It's officially targeting Iran, but the real main target is Russia.
 
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It was actually reported by the LA Times.

That thing was left rusty in the Pearl Harbor.

LOS ANGELES, April 5. /TASS/. The Sea-Based X-Band Radar, developed and designed by the Pentagon, which was supposed to become the core element of US’ missile defense system, turned out to be ineffective, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
 
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It was actually reported by the LA Times.

That thing was left rusty in the Pearl Harbor.
Yeah...I read the original LA Times article. It was much longer and at least gave the other side its paragraph. The Tass version is severely truncated, designed for those with short attention span and technically ignorant. Reminds me of how Soviet agents in the US, including Tass, worked during the Cold War when so often they compile their 'intelligence' reports for the Kremlin by reading US newspapers.
 
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Yeah...I read the original LA Times article. It was much longer and at least gave the other side its paragraph. The Tass version is severely truncated, designed for those with short attention span and technically ignorant. Reminds me of how Soviet agents in the US, including Tass, worked during the Cold War when so often they compile their 'intelligence' reports for the Kremlin by reading US newspapers.
All powers do the same thing!:lol:
 
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