By Land or By Sea: An Analysis of National Missile Defense Options
Abstract
In conformance with the National Missile Defense (NMD) Act of 1999, the United States is pursuing the path to fielding a system capable of providing protection for all of the United States against a limited ballistic missile attack. The proposed land-based system is scheduled for a Deployment Readiness Review (DRR) in June 2000. As currently envisioned, the land-based system will rely on silo-based interceptors (most likely in Alaska) receiving guidance from a network of land-based radars, and eventually space-based sensors, to destroy incoming missiles. There are alternatives to the land-based system, the most prominent being a sea-based system building upon the Aegis Weapons System. With advocates both in and outside the Navy, the sea-based approach for many years has also been championed by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington, DC-based think tank with influence on Capitol Hill and beyond. This paper examines the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the current NMD plan and the proposed sea-based NMD system to determine their relative capability, deployability, and overall viability. The paper opens with a brief history of NMD, followed by a definition of the threat, and a summary of the current status of U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts. Recommendations of The Heritage Foundation are then analyzed in some depth, followed by a comparison of the two systems in the following categories: sensor performance, boosters and kill vehicles, projected timelines and costs, testing, technical hurdles, programmatic risk factors, capabilities against the threat, probability of kill, effectiveness against countermeasures, areas the systems can defend, operational security, and challenges relating to both Command and Control and Concept of Operations. Although not each of the above categories should be weighted equally nor is the decision decisive in all cases, the land-based system was evaluated as superior in 11 of the 14 areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA493312
Entities
People
- Bern J. Altman
Organizations
- Marine Corps University