The missile shield that was designed and (partially) fielded under the Bush Administration consists of several highly sophisticated weapon platforms and C2 assets that were intended to function in unison. In the strange world of Obama defense policy (the same that allows for a miraculous 16 month drawdown from Iraq), a functional missile shield can be stood up on a nickel budget, with a fraction of the planned weapon platforms, and sans any further R&D funding. The Obama camp seems to think missile defense is a static defensive option that meets future threats simply by existing, where Senator McCain looks at missile defense in the same way that he looks at fighters, tanks, combat ships, and rifles: weapons that must be continuously advanced and evolved to counter enemy technological achievements. Here’s how the shield was designed to work, courtesy of the Missile Defense Agency. A buffalo nickel to anyone who can spot which “unproven systems” Obama wants to cut from the defensive calculus.
