Analysis


In Depth Analysis, Commentary, and Publications

176 items, Page 15 of 18

Homeland Missile Defense: Illustrations

This page provides downloadable versions of all illustrations found in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. Illustrations are organized by chapter, in the order of their appearance in the report beginning in Chapter 1. Follow the links below to jump to a specific chapter. Click the images for higher resolution. All graphs...

Next Steps for Homeland Missile Defense

Should North Korea fire a long-range ballistic missile in anger, America’s only line of defense is an integrated system of interceptors and sensors known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD). The program currently provides a thin layer of defense against small-scale attacks of relatively unsophisticated missiles. This level of protection, however, will be strained...

US Missile Defenses Need Better Sensors, and Soon

Gaps in coverage leave interceptors less-equipped to defeat the threats of tomorrow. No missile defense is better than the sensors that tell the interceptors where to go and what to kill. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, draws upon considerably more sensors for homeland defense than when operations began in 2004, but shortfalls remain....

FY 2017 Missile Defense Agency Budget Tracker

This chart shows the Missile Defense Agency budget movements made by each committee in both the House and Senate. The green highlighted columns show the final totals of the authorization and appropriations acts. Ultimately, the appropriations bill sets the final total for Missile Defense Agency spending in fiscal year 2017. The final column shows the...

Missile Defense Policy Review – A Ripe Opportunity

The defense authorization act signed into law in December 2016 contained an important provision mandating a review of missile defeat policy, strategy, and capability, to be completed and submitted to Congress in January 2018. This Missile Defeat Review (MDR) appears likely to serve as a successor to both the Department of Defense’s 2010 Ballistic Missile...

How to Stop Russia from Cheating on Missile Treaty

In the series finale of the television show Breaking Bad, chemistry teacher-turned meth kingpin Walter White breaks into the home of an ex-business partner, who out of fear arms himself with a butter knife. “If we’re gonna go that way,” White says dryly, “you’ll need a bigger knife.” The man knows he cannot compete, and...

Missile Defense Review 2.0

Note: This appears as Chapter 4 in Missile Defense and Defeat: Consideration for the New Policy Review. Missile Defense Review 2.0 Henry A. Obering III Since 2004, ballistic missile defense (BMD) has become a core competency of the U.S. military and a key element of our overall national security strategy. When discussing the future of...

A Vector Check for America’s Missile Defense: Assessing the Course for the Trump Administration

Note: This appears as Chapter 5 in Missile Defense and Defeat: Consideration for the New Policy Review. A Vector Check for America’s Missile Defense: Assessing the Course for the Trump Administration Kenneth Todorov The reality of a Trump administration has given rise to a wave of euphoria about increased Pentagon budgets, new possibilities for hawkish...