Re: Curious About the Airborne Laser
<Even more, since it is theater defense, won't that really mean patrolling the boundary area of every WMD+missile armed country?
Maybe. Certainly we had planes of various types on constant patrol throughout the Cold War. When the Navy ran Moffett Field, the sky was full of Orion sub-hunters pretty much all day long.
Compared to the worth of an American city in lives and property, the cost of keeping such planes on patrol in those areas where they would be critical (not many right now) is pretty cheap.
And if they are shown to work, they make a good deterrent.