At mach 24 missile will leave earth orbit and start wondering space... mach 22 is fastest u can go...
This is news to me.
There are only one regiment with 15 interceptors in silo at moment deployed..for GMD. in 20 plus years and 100 billion USD in research and development.... there is a reason for that
That count is expected to increase to 44 by the end of this year or already has.
GMD interceptors are fielded in two distinct locations:-
49th Missile Defense Bn in Alaska
100th Missile Defense Bde in Colorado
I think that the investment is worth it and GMD is just a component of the holistic initiative.
Back in 1980s, intercepting a ballistic missile was thought to be a virtually impossible task. The original PAC-1 systems that were deployed for the said purpose for the Persian Gulf War in 1991 were mere 'concept demonstrators' in this regard.
Today, not only the PAC-3 system represents an enormous leap in capabilities from PAC-1 but a number of other and relatively more powerful systems have emerged that are capable of intercepting increasingly capable ballistic missiles over time, to the point that even advanced forms of ICBM will be fair game in the near future. The Cold War era MAD phenomenon is likely to diminish at some point.
The American BMD architecture has considerably evolved over the course of years with its assets expanding to the extent that different kinds of missiles can be detected at launch from virtually any part of the world and interceptors can be brought to bear against them in various regions. This is a powerful NETWORK in the making.
With computing technologies (and others) advancing at a rapid pace, imagine the capabilities of the aforementioned NETWORK like 20 years from today.
Just look at the evolution of the MBT over the course of years.