Ballistic Missile Defense: The Need for a National Debate

Abstract

There is a strong consensus in the United States concerning the need for active defenses against theater ballistic missiles, defined as missiles with a range of 3,500 km or less. This consensus was forged in the Gulf War, when Iraq launched conventionally-armed missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia one striking a U.S. barracks, causing one-quarter of the U.S. combat fatalities of the conflict. Iraqi missiles were derived from the 1950's-vintage Scud-B missiles previously provided by the Soviet Union. The political and military utility of even these relatively crude missiles was not lost on other states who would use force to achieve their own territorial and political objectives.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1995
Accession Number
ADA394518

Entities

People

  • Keith Payne
  • Robert Joseph

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Defense
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Cold War
  • Command And Control
  • Defense Systems
  • Deployment
  • Deterrence
  • Ground Based
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • Space Based
  • Theater Missile Defense
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Ussr

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies