"Heads, Not Tails:" How Best to Engage Theater Ballistic Missiles

Abstract

Defending against theater and intercontinental ballistic missiles, potentially carrying nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, requires 100% effectiveness anything less continues to afford our enemies weapons of mass effect. If the U.S. is to be successful in answering this threat, a re-evaluation of boost phase intercept (BPI) options is in order. This paper highlights the ballistic missile threat and joint defense systems; provides an assessment of those systems; re-evaluates BPI merits; and proposes a kinetic boost phase solution (with concept of operations) to bridge the potential fielding of space-base weapons. Early engagement provides better, faster, cheaper and less destabilizing missile defense capability. Heads, not tails sounds a call to the Missile Defense Agency, Strategic Command and all Services to commit to producing BPI capability (first kinetic, then directed energy), ahead of other systems and upgrades.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA463406

Entities

People

  • Ronald C. Wiegand

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers
  • Command And Control
  • Detection
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Infrared Detectors
  • Munitions
  • National Security
  • Rockets
  • Theater Ballistic Missiles
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Ballistic Missile Meteorology
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space