Defending against hypersonic missiles is strategically necessary, technologically possible, and fiscally affordable, but it will not be easy. Its realization will require different approaches and new ways of thinking from those employed for legacy ballistic and cruise missile defense missions. Hypersonic weapons combine the speed and range of ballistic missiles with the low-altitude and maneuverable...
Improved ODI would go a long way to countering modern missile threats. This report examines its benefits, challenges, and the possible road ahead.
The Missile War in Yemen is the first comprehensive review of missile and missile defense activity in the ongoing Yemen conflict.
Despite the rising salience of missile threats, current air and missile defense forces are far too susceptible to suppression. Today’s U.S. air and missile defense (AMD) force lacks the depth, capacity, and operational flexibility to simultaneously perform both missions
In policy pronouncements over the last two administrations, the protection of the American homeland was regularly identified as the first priority of U.S. missile defense efforts. Homeland missile defense today is provided by the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program and other elements of the larger Ballistic Missile Defense System...
Note: This appears as Chapter 6 in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. Future Options This study has so far examined the policy and strategic context for homeland missile defense, the historical background and basis for today’s architecture, the state of GMD today, and currently planned upgrades. We turn now to additional...
Note: This appears as Chapter 4 in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. Ground-based Interceptor Development Perhaps the most recognizable component of homeland missile defense is the Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) itself, which represents the product of a long line of hit-to-kill interceptors dating back to the 1980s (Figure 4.1). Many of the...
Note: This appears as Chapter 3 in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. The State of Homeland Missile Defense Today Today’s homeland missile defense efforts rest on an integrated system encompassing a wide range of sensors, interceptors, and command and control mechanisms. Since late 2004, these have provided a limited defensive capability...
Note: This appears as Chapter 5 in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. Sensors and Command and Control No missile defense system is better than the sensors and command and control systems that determine where the threat is and how to kill it. While interceptors tend to capture the imagination, sensors are...
Note: This appears as Chapter 1 in Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland. Homeland Missile Defense in U.S. Strategy Missile defenses for the homeland now represent an established part of U.S. national security strategy and policy, and the first priority of U.S. missile defense efforts, even while the particular programs, budget levels,...
