Theater Ballistic Missile Defense. The Need for an Operational Commander.

Abstract

Desert Storm brought to light the potential capability of theater ballistic missiles. During the War, SCUD missiles were used by the Iraqis in an attempt to alter the strategic balance. Fortunately, coalition forces were able to negate the effect of the ballistic missiles through air attacks and the Patriot surface-to-air missile system. Based on the lessons learned from the Gulf War, the Joint Chiefs of Staff developed & theater missile defense (TMD) doctrine to serve as a guide to operational commanders for countering ballistic missiles in the future. This doctrine calls for unity of effort at the operational level by coordination of the component commanders. Past experience points to the fact that a common commander is necessary for unity of effort. Therefore, because of the large number of joint forces required to counter ballistic missiles and the need to work towards a common objective, the TXD doctrine should reflect the requirement for a missile defense commander. (MM)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 13, 1995
Accession Number
ADA293343

Entities

People

  • Bruce A. Lithchfield

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Defense
  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Command And Control
  • Detectors
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Operations
  • New York
  • Organizational Structure
  • Passive Defense
  • Persian Gulf
  • Theater Ballistic Missiles
  • Theater Missile Defense
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Missile Defense Systems.