Bob Schaffer: “With the technology we have today, if it were to be employed, it virtually makes the prospect of nuclear weapons…”

“With the technology we have today, if it were to be employed, it virtually makes the prospect of nuclear weapons becoming obsolete a very real one. Think about that for a moment. The prospect of having nuclear weapons become obsolete basically by stepping forward and deploying the technology that makes it possible to knock down those missiles at a reliable rate in the offender's airspace before these missiles finish the boost phase or leave the enemy territory and airspace. They would be reluctant to launch that missile if they knew on its course it was going over Moscow and we could use a laser beam and destroy it there and have nuclear impact there.”