[elbucko]

Nothing that are worthwhile having comes perfect in the initial stage of development, it continue to evolve over time, until it becomes near perfect.

Very true. The Nike Ajax of the 50's was troublesome. The Nike Hercules of the 60's and 70's was a piece of work. If you blinked, you missed it. Its' "Achilles heel" was tube electronics. The next generation was to be the Nike Zeus. This came to an end when Nixon signed the ABM Treaty with the Soviet Union. The Nike Zeus was really something. It was murdered by de'tante and MAD.

The idea of a peace dividend will always be a farce. The world will be a dangerous place for many decades to come. Those that let the defense of this country atrophy, are committing treason and suicide.

[Poohbah]

Nike-Zeus later became known as Nike-X, and then Spartan.

Wags insisted that Spartan was really an acronym:

Superior Performance And Range Through Advanced Nomenclature.

[desertcry]

You sound like a person with hands on experience on ballistic missiles.