Annie Jacobsen

First of all, we have 44 interceptor missiles, total, period, full stop. Let me repeat, 44, okay? Earlier, we were talking about Russia's 1,670 interceptors. deployed nuclear weapons. How are those 44 interceptor missiles going to work, right? And they also have a success rate of around 50%. So they work 50% of the time.

There are 40 of them in Alaska, and there are four of them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara. And they are responsible at about nine minutes into the scenario, after the ICBM has finished that five-minute boost phase we talked about. Now it's in mid-course phase. And the ground radar systems have identified, yes, this is an incoming ICBM. And now the interceptor missiles have to.

There are 40 of them in Alaska, and there are four of them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara. And they are responsible at about nine minutes into the scenario, after the ICBM has finished that five-minute boost phase we talked about. Now it's in mid-course phase. And the ground radar systems have identified, yes, this is an incoming ICBM. And now the interceptor missiles have to.

There are 40 of them in Alaska, and there are four of them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara. And they are responsible at about nine minutes into the scenario, after the ICBM has finished that five-minute boost phase we talked about. Now it's in mid-course phase. And the ground radar systems have identified, yes, this is an incoming ICBM. And now the interceptor missiles have to.

Right. It's essentially shooting a missile with a missile inside the interceptor, which is just a big giant rocket in its nose cone. It has what's called the aptly named exo atmospheric kill vehicle. OK, there's no explosives in that thing. It's literally just going to take everything. out the warhead, ideally, with force. So one of them is going like, you know, Mach 20.

Right. It's essentially shooting a missile with a missile inside the interceptor, which is just a big giant rocket in its nose cone. It has what's called the aptly named exo atmospheric kill vehicle. OK, there's no explosives in that thing. It's literally just going to take everything. out the warhead, ideally, with force. So one of them is going like, you know, Mach 20.

Right. It's essentially shooting a missile with a missile inside the interceptor, which is just a big giant rocket in its nose cone. It has what's called the aptly named exo atmospheric kill vehicle. OK, there's no explosives in that thing. It's literally just going to take everything. out the warhead, ideally, with force. So one of them is going like, you know, Mach 20.

I mean, the speeds at which these two moving objects hurtling through space are going is astonishing. And the fact that interception is even possible is really remarkable, but it's only possible 50% of the time.

I mean, the speeds at which these two moving objects hurtling through space are going is astonishing. And the fact that interception is even possible is really remarkable, but it's only possible 50% of the time.

I mean, the speeds at which these two moving objects hurtling through space are going is astonishing. And the fact that interception is even possible is really remarkable, but it's only possible 50% of the time.

No, impossible. That I would be willing to bet.

No, impossible. That I would be willing to bet.

No, impossible. That I would be willing to bet.

Well, that's where we get the success rate that's around 50% because of the tests, right? And actually, the interceptor program is, are you ready for this? It's on strategic pause, right? Right now, meaning the interceptor missiles are there, but developing them and making them more effective is on strategic pause because They can't be made more effective, right?

Well, that's where we get the success rate that's around 50% because of the tests, right? And actually, the interceptor program is, are you ready for this? It's on strategic pause, right? Right now, meaning the interceptor missiles are there, but developing them and making them more effective is on strategic pause because They can't be made more effective, right?

Well, that's where we get the success rate that's around 50% because of the tests, right? And actually, the interceptor program is, are you ready for this? It's on strategic pause, right? Right now, meaning the interceptor missiles are there, but developing them and making them more effective is on strategic pause because They can't be made more effective, right?

People have these fantasies that we have a system like the Iron Dome, and they see this in current events, and they're like, oh, our interceptors would do that. It's just simply not true.

People have these fantasies that we have a system like the Iron Dome, and they see this in current events, and they're like, oh, our interceptors would do that. It's just simply not true.

People have these fantasies that we have a system like the Iron Dome, and they see this in current events, and they're like, oh, our interceptors would do that. It's just simply not true.

We have systems I write about called the THAAD system, which is ground-based, and then the Aegis system, which is on vessels. And these are great at shooting down some rockets, but they can only shoot them sort of one at a time. You cannot shoot the mother load as it's coming in. Those are the smaller systems, right, the tactical nuclear weapons.