Space-based radar.

• Position: Miss

* Back in the pre-9/11 era, when the Pentagon believed it could monitor its enemies from space, it seemed like a cool idea--a constellation of orbiting spy satellites that could deliver images of geographic areas that typically would be inaccessible to aircraft. The satellites also could cover areas for long periods. The radar would be able to track moving targets and provide maps and imagery to military forces and to the intelligence community.

But after more than a decade and billions of dollars spent on studies and preliminary designs, the project that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld listed among the top-five technology priorities for the Pentagon perished without fanfare. It had been estimated to cost up to $30 billion.

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In retrospect, even if the SBR had survived the bureaucratic and budget turf wars, it was doubtful that the technology was ready...