Welcome to Missile Gap -

Welcome to Missile Gap - For decades, now, opponents of Missile Defense have claimed that the whole idea is obsolete even before it's built - because "the main threat is from terrorists who sneak suitcase bombs into the country".

Leave aside the fact that the "suitcase bomb" is largely science-fiction (yes, they exist - there have been tactical nuclear weapons that weigh as little as 100 pounds, measureing 6 by 20 inches, but they require a lot of skill to use properly) - it may be much simpler, more reliable, and do more damage to launch a warhead from a SCUD missile based on a converted merchant ship. It takes old (by high-tech standards, ancient) but reliable technology and exploits its strengths.

And that is where missile defense is suddenly not at all obsolete.