Note: This appears as Chapter 2 in Missile Defense and Defeat: Consideration for the New Policy Review. A New Missile Defense Review Keith B. Payne This analysis seeks to place consideration of ballistic missile defense (BMD) in its broad strategic context by examining the U.S. policy frameworks that have defined the metrics used to judge...
Note: This appears as Chapter 6 in Missile Defense and Defeat: Consideration for the New Policy Review. Five Paths to Maturing Missile Defense: Toward the 2017 Review Thomas Karako In 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged to “develop a state of the art missile defense system,” and to “rebuild the key tools of missile defense.”...
Last Thursday, the United States Navy announced that it had successfully carried out four Trident II D5 sub-launched ballistic missile test flights launched from an Ohio-class submarine over the course of a three-day exercise. The tests were conducted to evaluate the missile’s reliability and performance in a normal operating environment. While the Navy claims the tests...
A recent statement by a U.S. official to reporters suggests that Iran’s Khorramshahr missile, which Iran tested on January 29, may have been a variant of North Korea’s Musudan medium-range ballistic missile. The official suggested in an interview with Reuters that Sunday’s test was the first time the missile had been tested since July 2016....
On January 30, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn exchanged a phone call in which they reaffirmed their countries’ bilateral alliance and the future deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to South Korea. According to the White House, “Trump reiterated our ironclad commitment to defend the ROK,...
On Friday, January 20, 2017, The United States, South Korea, and Japan began a three-day naval-missile defense exercise in response to concerns of a possible North Korean ICBM test during President Trump’s inauguration. The exercises were conducted as a combined effort between the USS Stethem (DDG 63), the JDS Kirishima (DDG-174), and the ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG-991). Although...
Japan is preparing to launch a missile surveillance satellite on January 26, 2017 in an effort to upgrade its surveillance network amidst North Korea’s growing missile capabilities. The satellite, named the Kirameki No. 2, is to be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in the Kagoshima Prefecture. The Kirameki No. 2 will use an X-band communication,...
On January 9, 2017, LTG (ret.) Michael Flynn, the soon-to-be national security advisor to President-Elect Donald Trump, met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin to reaffirm their countries’ joint decision to deploy a THAAD missile defense system to the South Korean peninsula. The decision to deploy THAAD comes as a response to the growing...
Nations around the world continue to develop a growing range of ballistic and cruise missiles to asymmetrically threaten U.S. forces, allies, and the American homeland. Missile defenses have now become an essential part of U.S. defense policy and strategy, and their importance shows no sign of diminishing.
U.S. nuclear deterrent forces have long been the foundation of U.S. national security and the highest priority of the Department of Defense. As President-elect Donald Trump has observed, nuclear weapons pose “the single greatest threat” to the nation. In the coming year, the new administration will review the state of U.S. nuclear forces, the nation’s...
