Missile Experts: Trump Must Revive 'Star Wars' to Counter Putin

Defense experts are urging President Trump to dust off former President Reagan’s “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative as a way to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s increasingly hostile nuclear saber rattling and high-tech missiles.

Unlike current U.S. anti-missile defenses, which rely on interceptors launched from the ground or at sea, Reagan’s SDI plan called for space-based missiles that would destroy enemy ICBMs during boost phase -- that is, during the primary burn when a rocket is rising through the atmosphere and accelerating toward its peak velocity.