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 …
Missile Defense Issues for the 114th Congress
The 114th Congress has seen a shift in power toward the Republican Party for the first time since 2006. Voters weary of deadlock on Capitol Hill will hold their newly elected representatives to a high standard and hope that they will work together to tackle the issues facing the nation today. After a summer of …
Destructive Criticism
Senator Coburn’s write up on U.S. homeland missile defense is misleading and unhelpful. Homeland missile defense is a strategic necessity in today’s world. The threat ballistic missile attack from rogue states or the threat of an accidental or inadvertent launch cannot be reliably deterred by threats of offensive retaliation. Investment in building and improving our …
Missile Defense Review 