a long time and they were suddenly faced with the requirement to actually go deploy something. >> a spokesman for the agency says it respect fully disagrees with that characterization but doesn't deny the allegations of failed systems now shelved. among them, a project called the airborne laser, 747s equipped with chemical lasers that would incinerate enemy missiles. that program cost $5.3 billion according to "the l.a. times" but was scrapped because the planes would have had to fly too close to an enemy's borders. then there's the kinetic enemy interceptor. cool name but the "times" says it was too long to fit onto navy ships and the range was too limited for land launches. cost? $1.7 billion. and the multiple kill vehicle, a bundle of miniature missile inseptemberers. ground-based rockets would have had to be retrofitted to make this work. that was $700 million. supporters of the agency don't call these projects waste saying