Missile Defense: Sorting Out Collateral Damage
Abstract
The successful intercept of a threat ballistic missile does not completely negate all hazards to friendly personnel or assets. Prediction of the effects resulting from the various debris that result from the intercept is a science that is still growing more than 37 years after the first anti-ballistic missile system was deployed, with many remaining knowledge gaps and many people unaware of the issue of post-intercept collateral effects. The hazards can be particularly significant if the threat missile contains a Weapon of Mass Destruction payload. The article discusses early strategic missile defense, which emphasized engaging Soviet strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) carrying large-yield nuclear warheads. The interceptor missiles themselves carried nuclear warheads to inflict catastrophic damage on the threat nuclear payloads. With the advent of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) in 1983, the objective became the defense of the entire United States against a massive nuclear strike by the Soviet Union. The means of engaging these thousands of threat missiles also changed from nuclear-tipped interceptors launched near the ground target to a wide variety of interceptors relying on conventional warheads or simple direct impact kinetic energy ("hit-to-kill") or on directed energy weapons. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the SDIO became the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), which concerned itself far more with Theater Ballistic Missile Defense than with strategic ICBM defense, and with engaging a few missiles rather than a massive strike with thousands of inbound warheads. The remainder of the article discusses potential collateral effects of six threat warheads (Nuclear, Unitary High Explosive, High Explosive Submunition, Unitary Chemical, Chemical Submunition, and Biological Submunition), and the effects of warhead type, interceptor type, speed, altitude, weather, terrain, etc. on collateral effects.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA560990
Entities
People
- Jay Willis