I don't know if I'd call it ready. I'd say that the prototypes can be spun up and made operational PDQ, and with luck, they will work if needed. Given the track record for these tests, all I'm going to say is I'm awfully glad I don't live on the west coast. Sorry, guys.

Either that, or the DoD has been able to keep something superspiffy under a cloak of absolute secrecy for a while. I haven't even seen a crediable rumor about any ABM systems being online yet in Aviaiton Leak or any of the others. But, I've been suprised before. If I had to take a guess, it would be in the form of either an improved version of the ultra-high altitude version of the Standard that the Navy has been messing with off and on, something like the old ASAT tossed from an Eagle that is pulling race tracks over the Pacific Ocean, or maybe there is an unpublished airborne laser test bird that they've been able to get the bugs out of the tracking for. But those are just guesses

Thanks for the link to FAS, Martin. I like thier estimates a lot better than some of the others I've seen on the TD-2. They are cheerful, but FAS is also less prone to agrandising thier estimates than others. But it still means that ability to put a few hundred kilograms of chemical or biological agents someplace where they shouldn't be. Assuming it works.