Soon Raytheon, the largest missile-defense contractor, started talking openly at conferences about the new opportunities in “left of launch” technologies, particularly cyber and electronic strikes executed at the moment of launch. A Raytheon document from one of its industry conferences, which was posted on a public website until we began asking questions about it, was not exactly subtle. One slide showed a range of adversaries against whom “left of launch” was particularly well suited, with a picture of a solemn Kim Jong-un sandwiched between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
