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Gennady turned。 〃Start it up again； Andrushka！ We'll get Gogol to e and teach the children how it's done。 He's a priceless asset。 Men like that are the soul of a fighting army。 It's our job to mand our soldiers； to tell them where to go and what to do； but those are the men who do the fighting and the killing； and it's our job to make sure they're properly trained and supplied。 And when they're too old； we use them to teach the new boys； to give them heroes they can touch and talk to。 How the hell did we ever forget that； Andrey？〃 The general shook his head as the helicopter lifted off。
Gregory was back in his hotel room； with three hundred pages of technical information to digest as he sipped his Diet Coke and finished off his french fries。 Something was wrong with the whole equation； but he couldn't put his finger on it。 The Navy had tested its Standard…2…ER missile against all manner of threats； mainly on puter； but also against live targets at Kwajalein Atoll。 It had done pretty well； but there'd never been a full…up live test against a for…real ICBM reentry vehicle。 There weren't enough of them to go around。 Mainly they used old Minuteman…II ICBMs； long since retired from service and fired out of test silos at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California； but those were mostly gone。 Russia and America had retired all of their ballistic weapons； chiefly as a reaction to the nuclear terrorist explosion at Denver and the even more horrific aftermath that had barely been averted。 The negotiations to draw the numbers down to zero…the last ones had been eliminated in public just before the Japanese had launched their sneak attack on the Pacific Fleet…had gone so rapidly that a lot of the minor ancillary points had scarcely been considered； and only later had it been decided to take the 〃spare〃 launchers whose disposition had somehow been overlooked and retain them for ABM testing （every month a Russian officer checked the American ones at Vandenberg； and an American officer counted the Russian ones outside Plesetsk）。 The ABM tests were also monitored； hut that entire area of effort was now largely theoretical。 Both America and Russia retained a goodly number of nuclear warheads； and these could easily be affixed to cruise missiles； which； again； both sides had in relative abundance and no country could stop。 It might take five hours instead of thirty…four minutes； but the targets would be just as dead。
Anti…missile work had been relegated to theater missiles； such as the ubiquitous Scuds； which the Russians doubtless regretted ever having built； much less sold to jerkwater countries that couldn't even field a single decent mechanized division； but who loved to parade those upgraded V…2…class ballistic stovepipes because they looked impressive as hell to the people on the sidewalks。 But the new upgrades on Patriot and its Russian counterpart SAM largely negated that threat； and the Navy's Aegis system had been tested against them； with pretty good success。 Like Patriot； though； Standard was really a point…defense weapon with damned little cross…range ability to cover an area instead of maybe twenty square miles of important sea…estate。
All in all； it was a pity that they'd never solved the power…throughput problem with his free…electron lasers。 Those could have defended whole coastlines； if only 。 。 。 and if only his aunt had balls； Gregory thought； she'd be his uncle。 There was talk of building a chemical laser aboard a converted 747 that could sure as hell clobber a ballistic launch during boost phase； but to do that； the 747 had to be fairly close to the launch point； and so that was just one more version of theater defense； and of little strategic use。
The Aegis system had real possibilities。 The SPY radar system was first…rate； and though the puter that managed the information was the flower of 1975 technology…a current Apple Macintosh had it beat by a good three orders of magnitude in all categories of performance… intercepting a ballistic warhead wasn't a question of puting speed so much as kinetic energy…getting the kill vehicle to the right place at the right time。 Even that wasn't so great a feat of engineering。 The real work had been done as far back as 1959； with the Nike Zeus； which had turned into Spartan and shown great promise before being shitcanned by the 1972 treaty with the Soviet Union； which was； belatedly； just as dead as the Safeguard system； which had been aborted at half…built。
Well； the fact of the matter was that MIRV technology had negated that entire defense concept。 No； you had to kill the ICBM in boost phase to kill all the MIRVs at once； and do it over the enemy's territory so that if he had a primitive arming system he'd only fry his own turf。 The method for doing that was the Brilliant Pebbles system developed at Lawrence…Livermore National Laboratory； and though it had never been given a full…up test； the technology was actually pretty straightforward。 Being hit by a matchstick traveling at fifteen thousand miles per hour would ruin your entire day。 But that would never happen。 The drive to fund and deploy such a system had died with all the ballistic launchers。 In a way； it was a pity； Gregory thought。 Such a system would have been a really cool engineering acplishment…but it had little practical application today。 The PRC retained its land…based ballistic launchers； but there were only ten or so of them； and that was a long way from the fifteen hundred the Soviets had once pointed at America。 The Chinese had a missile submarine； too； but Gregory figured that CINCPAC could make that go away if he had to。 Even if it was just tied alongside the pier； one two…thousand…pound smart bomb could take it out of play； and the Navy had a lot of those。
So； he thought； figure the PRC gets really pissed at Taiwan； and figure the Navy has an Aegis cruiser tied alongside so that its sailors can get drunk and laid in the city； and those folks in Beijing pick that moment to push the button on one of their ICBMs； how can the Navy keep its cruiser from turning into slag； and oh； by the way； keep the city of Taipei alive。。。？
The SM…2…ER had almost enough of the right ingredients to handle such a threat。 If the missile was targeted on where the cruiser was； cross…range was not an issue。 You just had to put the interceptor on the same line of bearing； because in essence the inbound rack wasn't moving at all； and you just had to put the SAM in the same place…Spot X… that the RV was going to be； at Time Y。 The Aegis puter could figure where and when that was； and you weren't really hitting a bullet with a bullet。 The RV would be about a meter across； and the kill…zone of the SAM's warhead would be about； what？ Three meters across？ Five？ Maybe even eight or ten？
Call it eight； Al Gregory thought。 Was the SM…2 that accurate？ In absolute terms； probably yes。 It had ample…sized control surfaces； and getting into the line of a jet aircraft…what the SM…2 had been designed to kill…had to take into account the maneuverability of the aircraft （pilots would do their damnedest to avoid the things）； and so the eight…meter globe of destruction could probably be made to intercept the inbound RV in terms of pur