[mikeash]

Shooting down one missile is a lot easier than shooting down a hundred. The US has had the ability to defend against an attack from North Korea since the W Bush administration. That capability would barely dent a Chinese attack.

[protomyth]

I wasn't talking about China, just the "any" nuclear power is hopefully becomes a false statement given NK's instability.

Do you have a source on the "The US has had the ability to defend against an attack from North Korea since the W Bush administration." for ballistic missiles?

[mikeash]

This is the system in question:

https://www.mda.mil/system/gmd.html

The interceptors are expensive, so there aren't very many. That's why it can defend against a country like North Korea but not China.

[protomyth]

Ok, but why do you keep mentioning China, I said I wasn't worried about China. I'm worried about the crazy folks (e.g. NK) with limited launch capability. China is pretty stable.

[mikeash]

Because the overall context here is China, the potential for war with China, and the devastation that would result. I want to be clear that our defenses would not prevent that.

[protomyth]

Fine, but that wasn't the parent message I was responding to and had nothing to do with my original reply.

[mikeash]

Really, you think "In any all-out war between two nuclear nations there will be no winner, just two losers" in a discussion about war with China wasn't talking about China?