Accidental Launch Protection System: Requirements and Proposed Concepts
Abstract
During the last year, many in Congress and the Administration have debated the feasibility and the desirability of limited ballistic missile defenses. Both the Senate and the House Armed Services Committees have held hearings to explore systems and technologies that might provide such a defense. Within the Administration, the SDI Milestone Panel of the Defense Science Board recommended that the United States deploy limited, ground-based defenses as the first step in SDI. Senator Nunn launched the debate with his proposal for an Accidental Launch Protection System (MYS), to protect against accidental or unauthorized launches of ballistic missiles. Accidental and unauthorized launches would create very different types of threats. An accidental launch would probably include one missile, and up to ten warheads. An unauthorized launch, on the other hand, might include up to 20 missiles and 200 warheads. An ALPS might not protect the United States from these launches if it complied with the terms of the ABM Treaty. The permitted 100 interceptors could be overwhelmed by an unauthorized launch, and it might be overwhelmed by an accidental launch if the missile carried devices that confuse radars and other sensors. Nonetheless, an AI%S might reduce damage to the United States from a Soviet launch and might protect the United States from some types of ballistic missile attacks launched by third countries.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 28, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA344684
Entities
People
- Amy F. Woolf
Organizations
- Library of Congress