Separated from any major military powers by two expansive oceans, the United States holds an unprecedented security advantage in great power competition. However, this does not imply, as the increasingly isolationist American public would suggest, that the United States should reign in its international commitments and be content to let each region sort out its …
Author Archives: ianwilliams1383
Hacking missile defence: the cyber challenge to BMD
In the past two decades, the US ballistic missile defence programme has tackled and overcome myriad technical challenges, engineering problems and political skeptics, and the notion and role of missile defence has now become normalized, accepted and essentially entrenched within US strategic and deterrence planning. Indeed, we have come a long way since the highly …
Honesty Among Friends
Last Thursday, Turkey’s Defense Minister, Ismet Yilmaz, responded to a written question from parliament by saying that Ankara does not plan to integrate its new missile defense system with NATO infrastructure. His written statement intimated that Turkey has already evaluated bids by various contractors and selected a missile defense platform designed by China Precision Machinery …
Hermit Kingdom Hypnosis
We must not let North Korea’s repetitive behavior erode our vigilance. Earlier this month, North Korea tested a new anti-ship missile and launched five short-ranged ballistic missiles in to the Sea of Japan. Characteristically, these launches were preceded by North Korean threats via its Central News Agency. After claiming to have miniaturized nuclear warhead …
Run Down of Proposed Missile Defense Legislation in FY’15 Defense Budget
Ian WIlliams The following is a summary of legislation related to missile defense proposed by the House Armed Services Committee in the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal year 2015. The committee passed the bill, H.R. 4435, unanimously on May 7.
Missile Defense Review 