Plus delaying the time to destroy a single missile is still useful, even if it doesn't eventually make it, since an actual engagement is likely to involve more

Plus delaying the time to destroy a single missile is still useful, even if it doesn't eventually make it, since an actual engagement is likely to involve more than one missile being launched. You could throw enough missiles to overwhelm a laser defense system and you might still come out cheaper than the laser defense system. </armchair-general>