Ballistic Missile Defense

Abstract

The United States has been developing and deploying ballistic missile defenses (BMD) to defend against enemy missiles continuously since the late 1940s. In the late 1960sand early 1970s, the United States deployed a limited nuclear-tipped BMD system to protect a portion of its U.S. land-based nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)force in order to preserve a strategic deterrent against a Soviet nuclear attack on the Homeland. That system became active in 1975 but shut down in 1976 because of concerns over cost and effectiveness. In the FY1975budget, the Army began funding research into hit-to-kill or kinetic energy interceptors as an alternative the type of interceptor technology that dominates U.S. BMD systems today.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 23, 2022
Accession Number
AD1187822

Entities

People

  • Kelley M . Sayler

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Agreements
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Congress
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Flight
  • Ground Based
  • High Altitude
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Korea
  • Medium Range Ballistic Missiles
  • Middle East
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Persian Gulf
  • Procurement
  • Rockets
  • Saudi Arabia
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies