Missile shield goes live

last updated 8 January 2015

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The Ballistic Missile Defense System, first proposed by Ronald Reagan 20 years ago, went into operation this week as interceptor missiles were activated on Air Force bases in California and Alaska. In the event of an attack, the U.S. hopes the 55-foot interceptors can blow enemy missiles out of the sky, a proposition critics say has never been successfully tested. “It’s not going to be 100 percent when we field it,” said Maj. David Latham of Vandenberg Air Force Base, “but we have to have something.” The Pentagon has spent $70 billion on missile defense and has allocated another $51 billion over the next five years. Plans include an anti-missile laser beam that can be fired from a moving 747 jet.