▁co oper atively ▁communicate ▁among ▁themselves ▁and ▁target ▁a ▁large ▁sw arm ▁of ▁IC B M ▁war head s ▁in ▁space ▁or ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁boost ▁phase . ▁Development ▁was ▁dis cont in ued ▁later ▁in ▁favor ▁of ▁a ▁limited ▁ground - based ▁defense . ▁ ▁Trans formation ▁of ▁S DI ▁into ▁M DA , ▁development ▁of ▁N MD / G MD ▁While ▁the ▁Re agan ▁era ▁Str ateg ic ▁Def ense ▁In iti ative ▁was ▁intended ▁to ▁shield ▁against ▁a ▁massive ▁Soviet ▁attack , ▁during ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁President ▁George ▁H . ▁W . ▁Bush ▁called ▁for ▁a ▁more ▁limited ▁version ▁using ▁ro cket - launch ed ▁intercept ors ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁ground ▁at ▁a ▁single ▁site . ▁Such ▁system ▁was ▁developed ▁since ▁ 1 9 9 2 , ▁was ▁expected ▁to ▁become ▁oper ational ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 0 ▁and ▁capable ▁of ▁intercept ing ▁small ▁number ▁of ▁incoming ▁IC B M s . ▁First ▁called ▁the ▁National ▁Miss ile ▁Def ense ▁( N MD ), ▁since ▁ 2 0 0 2 ▁it ▁was ▁renamed ▁Gr ound - B ased ▁Mid course ▁Def ense ▁( G MD ). ▁It ▁was ▁planned ▁to ▁protect ▁all ▁ 5 0 ▁states ▁from ▁a ▁ro gue ▁miss ile ▁attack . ▁The ▁Al aska ▁site ▁provides ▁more ▁protection ▁against ▁North ▁Korean ▁miss iles ▁or ▁accident al ▁launch es ▁from ▁Russia ▁or ▁China , ▁but ▁is ▁likely ▁less ▁effective ▁against ▁miss iles ▁launched ▁from ▁the ▁Middle ▁East . ▁The ▁Al aska