Cancelled Cold War weapon concepts for a 1,000, please

Those things you read about as an Ensign - some things just recycle.

Think Soviet Delta and Yankee SLBMs. Think Trapshooting. Come on AW1, you know what I am talking about.

Now, see USAF.

A US F-16 fighter used an air-to-air missile to destroy a sounding rocket in its boost phase for the first time this week in a test of a new missile defense concept, US spokesmen said Tuesday.

The system -- named the Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCDE) -- breaks new ground in that it would arm fighter aircraft or drones with missiles fast enough to intercept a ballistic missile as it lifts into space.

The aircraft would have to get to within a 100 miles of the launch site to catch the ascending missile in the first two to three minutes after launch.

But it could be very useful in a short range combat situation against short and medium range missiles, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency.

A 25-yr old concept - this time by a different service with pointy-nosed targets (aircraft, sorry) - this time over land. Still a good idea - though I do have one request. Can we quit calling everything "Net-Centric?" Net-Centric parking lot...... Net-Centric Slug-line .... etc ...