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They say it would cost $100 billion USD

That is like only about 12% of the US defense budget. And I'm pretty sure, much less than what the US has spent on ICBM interceptor research in the last 30 years.

So if it was feasible, I think it would have already been built. Not necessarily as a first strike weapon, but definitely something take out the birds in the atmosphere once they flew



If you look at the technical requirements, 1000 TeV seems impossible since LHC is at ~13TeV even if we optimize it for a weapon instead of science.

Not sure how to get a dollar figure if the tech isn't remotely possible.


160 billion adjusted for inflation.

Meanwhile US nuclear modernzation is 500B until 230, 1.5T until 2050.

Seems like a bargin.




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