[scottlocklin]

MIRVs had been around since the 1960s, and were probably a response to the first gen ABM systems, which were to light off a giant nuke in the path of incoming missiles. I think SDI really did freak out the Soviets; the Russians are still mad every time we field a new kind of ABM, and have been developing numerous obvious countermeasures to them, like "use something that isn't a standard ballistic missile." It's all so tiresome. Everyone should stop.

Of course SDI looked plausible like you said, and ultimately did materialize various ABM systems. This stuff is just insane gorp. Dr Pais has a history of this sort of thing; a quick look at his patent trail on google scholar nets nonsense like "laser augmented jet engines"[1] which are obvious nonsense.

[1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US7080504B2/en