▁launch ing ▁sites ▁in ▁Belg ium ▁and ▁the ▁Netherlands . ▁ ▁A ▁w art ime ▁study ▁by ▁Bell ▁L abs ▁into ▁the ▁task ▁of ▁shooting ▁down ▁ball istic ▁miss iles ▁in ▁flight ▁concluded ▁it ▁was ▁not ▁possible . ▁In ▁order ▁to ▁intercept ▁a ▁miss ile , ▁one ▁needs ▁to ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁ste er ▁the ▁attack ▁onto ▁the ▁miss ile ▁before ▁it ▁hits . ▁A ▁V - 2 ' s ▁speed ▁would ▁require ▁guns ▁of ▁effectively ▁instant aneous ▁reaction ▁time , ▁or ▁some ▁sort ▁of ▁weapon ▁with ▁ranges ▁on ▁the ▁order ▁of ▁do z ens ▁of ▁miles , ▁neither ▁of ▁which ▁appeared ▁possible . ▁This ▁was , ▁however , ▁just ▁before ▁the ▁emer gence ▁of ▁high - speed ▁computing ▁systems . ▁By ▁the ▁mid - 1 9 5 0 s , ▁things ▁had ▁changed ▁consider ably , ▁and ▁many ▁forces ▁world wide ▁were ▁considering ▁AB M ▁systems . ▁ ▁The ▁American ▁armed ▁forces ▁began ▁experiment ing ▁with ▁anti - miss ile ▁miss iles ▁soon ▁after ▁World ▁War ▁II , ▁as ▁the ▁extent ▁of ▁German ▁research ▁into ▁ro cket ry ▁became ▁clear . ▁Project ▁W izard ▁began ▁in ▁ 1 9 4 6 , ▁with ▁the ▁aim ▁of ▁creating ▁a ▁miss ile ▁capable ▁of ▁intercept ing ▁the ▁V - 2 . ▁ ▁But ▁def ences ▁against ▁Soviet ▁long - range ▁bom bers ▁took ▁priority ▁until ▁ 1 9 5 7 , ▁when ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁demonstrated ▁its ▁adv ances ▁in ▁IC B M ▁technology ▁with ▁the ▁launch ▁of ▁S put nik , ▁the ▁Earth