Intercepting long-range ballistic missiles is extremely difficult, as summarized in this video. In the terminal phase , the hypersonic speed of the reentry vehicle requires an anti-ballistic missile with even greater performance, like the Sprint which could reach a speed of Mach 10 in 5 seconds.

A directed-energy weapon would be a good alternative to a missile if the energy is deposited quickly enough on the target. The idea for this tower came from reading on project MARAUDER, a 1990s USAF research effort to build a plasma cannon. Optimizing the cannon for rapid fire instead of high power would help to counter saturation attacks. But the firing process is still power-hungry and relatively inefficient, so a good thermal management is important for prolonged engagements.