Missile defense

'Drop It on Their Heads': StratCom's Launch-Phase Missile Defense Plan

The nation needs directed-energy weapons -- lasers, particle beams, microwaves -- to take out enemy ballistic missiles on launch, Air Force Gen. John Hyten said Wednesday.

"Drop it back on their heads" right after it leaves the pad, Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said at an all-day forum on Army missile defense sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army.

"The day you can actually shoot a missile down over somebody's head and have that thing drop back on their heads -- that'll be a good day, because as soon as you drop it back on their head, that's the last one they're going to launch, especially if there's something nasty on top of it," he said.

"I think directed energy brings that to bear," Hyten said, although such weapons do not yet exist in the U.S. arsenal.

"Directed energy is an interesting challenge," he said, but "I think directed energy has a huge potential on the missile defense side.