US interceptor missiles designed to counter incoming nuclear ICBMs are ineffective, according to nuclear war expert and Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen. In her book Nuclear War: A Scenario, she describes a hypothetical North Korean first strike on the US that escalates into full-scale nuclear war, resulting in billions of deaths within 72 minutes.
Speaking on the Brad Carr podcast, Jacobsen highlighted the alarming challenges facing US missile interception. She noted that the US has only 44 non-nuclear Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, compared to Russia's 1,670 nuclear warheads on ready-for-launch status. 'Do the math. It's just impossible,' she said.
Jacobsen explained that an ICBM travels at 14,000 mph hundreds of miles above the Earth, and the interceptor must hit it with kinetic force—like 'a bowling ball'—as it carries no explosives. The US Missile Defense Agency described it as 'hitting a bullet with a bullet,' but Jacobsen claimed the failure rate is so extreme that the program is 'on pause' and 'doesn't work.'
