Missile Defense

IN the 1920s, budget cutting and a misunderstanding of new technology combined to cripple the development of military aircraft. Experts argued for the continued invincibility of the battleship. Air-power enthusiast Brig. Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell, in tests conducted between 1921 and 1923, proved them wrong by sinking four battleships, including the German Ostfriesland which was considered “unsinkable” after surviving heavy shell hits without serious damage at the Battle of Jutland. Yet critics went to great lengths to explain away the tests. Mitchell was even court-martialed in 1925 for protesting too loudly in public about the country’s lack of military preparedness. Only when Pearl Harbor was attacked 16 years later (as Mitchell had predicted) did Mitchell’s reputation change from that of an eccentric to that of a prophet.

The Aircraft Age has now been succeeded by the Missile Age, and the 1990s debate on missile defense is eerily similar to the debate of Mitchell’s day. As in the 1920s, critics of the new technology have tried to discredit evidence of its potential—most notably, the perform-anee of the Patriot missiles during the Gulf War. The Patriots certainly left much to be desired. However, they were new systems, with only a limited design potential for anti-missile purposes, and even so, they blunted the enemy’s attack and did wonders for allied morale. And the technology can be expected to advance. The Patriots are as primitive compared to what is being developed in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) as Mitchell’s fabric biplanes were to the warplanes that have come since.

DD

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Duncan D. Hunter

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IN the 1920s, budget cutting and a misunderstanding of new technology combined to cripple the development of military aircraft. Experts argued for the continued invincibility of the battleship. Air-power enthusiast Brig. Gen. William “Billy” Mitchell, in tests conducted between 1921 and 1923, proved them wrong by sinking four battleships, including the German Ostfriesland which was considered “unsinkable” after surviving heavy shell hits without serious damage at the Battle of Jutland. Yet critics went to great lengths to explain away the tests. Mitchell was even court-martialed in 1925 for protesting too loudly in public about the country’s lack of military preparedness. Only when Pearl Harbor was attacked 16 years later (as Mitchell had predicted) did Mitchell’s reputation change from that of an eccentric to that of a prophet.

The Aircraft Age has now been succeeded by the Missile Age, and the 1990s debate on missile defense is eerily similar to the debate of Mitchell’s day. As in the 1920s, critics of the new technology have tried to discredit evidence of its potential—most notably, the perform-anee of the Patriot missiles during the Gulf War. The Patriots certainly left much to be desired. However, they were new systems, with only a limited design potential for anti-missile purposes, and even so, they blunted the enemy’s attack and did wonders for allied morale. And the technology can be expected to advance. The Patriots are as primitive compared to what is being developed in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) as Mitchell’s fabric biplanes were to the warplanes that have come since.