The wrong plan: some thoughts on National Missile Defense

Abstract

The current proposals to construct a system of hit to kill interceptors as a safeguard against missiles which might be launched against the USA by a rogue state are shown in this paper to be badly flawed. Any nation with the ability to develop and construct an intercontinental ballistic missile would also likely be capable of employing countermeasures against interception. In short, the system would be unlikely to work against a missile travelling unpowered at great speed through space. If the USA is determined to have protection against such attack it would be far cheaper and more efficient to employ antimissile devices nearer to potential sources and to intercept hostile projectiles at the booster stage. It might even be possible to collaborate with Russia on such a scheme, which would not violate the spirit of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.