Ballistic Missile Defense -- The Crux of the Matter

Abstract

Today this country stands devoid of defenses against the weapon which will cause the greatest loss to life and property in the event of a general nuclear war, the intercontinental ballistic missile. The threat is present and there are many who believe that the means to combat it are also available. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and assess the issues involved in the controversy over deployment of a ballistic missile defense (BMD) for the protection of the continental United States. This paper concludes that consideration of active antimissile defense must include the following points: means other than massive retaliation must be provided for the failure of deterrence, a balanced deterrent against all forms of attack is required, defense contributions short of complete protection are meaningful, and the possible saving of millions of US lives warrants implementation of a combined shelter-BMD program.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 08, 1966
Accession Number
ADA522410

Entities

People

  • Robert W. Fye

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Congress
  • Defense Systems
  • Deterrence
  • Early Warning Systems
  • Federal Budgets
  • Governments
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Warheads
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Political Systems
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies