Ballistic Missile Defense Research Articles

Introduction: The great missile defense dilemma

In many ways, the US ballistic missile defense system lies at the center of the world’s nuclear weapons dilemma. The United States government contends the system – which includes ground-based and s...

Limitations on ballistic missile defense—Past and possibly future

ABSTRACT The ABM Treaty is unlikely to be revived any time soon. But it is possible that restraints on US deployment of ballistic missile defenses could make them seem less threatening to the effectiveness of Russia’s and China’s nuclear deterrents and set the stage for discussions about ways to preserve and even advance nuclear arms control. The proposed restraints are on systems designed to intercept warheads outside the atmosphere. Such systems are of little value in any case because they can be easily deceived by decoys and other countermeasures.

China’s attitudes toward missile defense and its limitation

ABSTRACT If there were to be a new international agreement to limit certain aspects of missile defense, it could reduce suspicion and competition among the United States, Russia, China, and other relevant parties. But the types of missile defense limitations that might be of interest to China – including agreements on numbers of missile interceptors, on the non-weaponization of space, and on elimination of ground-based midcourse defenses – involve policy changes that the United States has opposed in recent years.

Why a space-based missile interceptor system is not viable

ABSTRACT The United States has plans to develop two new missile defense programs in the space domain: a space-based sensor architecture and a space-based missile intercept layer. Both proposed systems rely on a network of satellites in low Earth orbit to offer full or partial coverage of the Earth’s surface, precisely tracking a missile during its flight in one case, or shooting it down entirely in the other. A space-based sensor system could expand current capabilities for monitoring missile launches and warrants further study. The deployment of a space-based missile intercept layer, however, would require launching hundreds or thousands of weapons into space – an expensive, inefficient, and provocative idea. The technical discussion surrounding space-based interceptors should be decoupled from that of space-based sensors – a much more plausible proposal. Despite decades of support from influential policymakers, the resources required to deploy space-based interceptors would be better spent on other layers of US missile defense.

A Proposal to Enhance the Capability of Ballistic Missile Defense for ROKS Aegis Destroyer(Batch-II)

A Proposal to Enhance the Capability of Ballistic Missile Defense for ROKS Aegis Destroyer(Batch-II)

Is It Time for the Beaver to Hop off the Eagle? A Case for Canada to Reconsider Its Geopolitical Alignment with the United States

Canada is known for its close relations with the United States in the domains of economic affairs, defence and international diplomacy. This arrangement, however, was a product of the great changes brought about by the Second World War. The combination of British decline, Ottawa’s desire to achieve full independence from London, and the looming Soviet threat during the Cold War created a political environment in which Canada had to become closely integrated with the United States both militarily and economically. Canada did so to ensure its survival in the international system. With the exception of a few controversial issues like US involvement in Vietnam (1955) and Iraq (2003) as well as Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD), Ottawa has been Washington’s closest ally since 1945. On numerous occasions like the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and as recently as the War in Afghanistan and the War Against IS (Islamic State), Canada had provided staunch military and diplomatic support to Washington in its engagements around the globe.
 In an era of relative peace, stability, and certainty, particularly during the Post-Cold War period and the height of American power from 1991 to 2008, this geopolitical arrangement of continental integration had greatly benefited Canada. This era of benefits, however, is arguably drawing to a close. The Great Recession of 2007-09, the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the insistence on pursuing a foreign policy of global primacy despite its significant economic cost, are sending the US down an uncertain path. Due to its close relations and geographical proximity with the US, Canada now faces a hostile international environment that is filled with uncertainty as a result of superpower decline, great power rivalries, environmental degradation, and failed US interventions.

US–Russia relations and the future of arms control: how the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty could restore engagement on nuclear issues

ABSTRACTRelations between the United States and Russia are in a prolonged downward spiral. Under these circumstances, cooperation on nuclear issues—once a reliable area of engagement even in difficult political environments—has all but completely halted. There are urgent reasons to find a way out of this situation, particularly the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 2021. However, seemingly intractable disagreements about noncompliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty and US ballistic-missile defense, compounded by the Ukraine crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the accusations of Russian interference in the US election of 2016, threaten the future of arms control. Against this backdrop, policy makers and practitioners should identify ways to re-engage on nuclear issues now so they can be ready to implement them as soon as feasible. This article considers how the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) could serve as a platform for US–Russia cooperation on nuclear issues when circumstances permit. Taking into account the challenges posed by ongoing US non-ratification, it identifies a menu of CTBT-related activities short of ratification that the two countries could undertake together. It explores how joint work on this issue would advance shared US and Russian interests while helping to create the circumstances necessary for further arms-control work.

Foreign space capabilities: Implications for U.S. national security

Steve Lambakis is a policy thought leader in U.S. ballistic missile defense and protection of our U.S. space systems. I worked with Steve at the Missile Defense Agency for many years when I was the...

Multi‐static radar power allocation for multi‐stage stochastic task of missile interception

Considering a multi-stage stochastic task, in which a multi-static radar system (MSRS) is applied to assist with missile interception, the authors study an optimisation problem of radar resource management. Specifically, under restriction of a fixed energy budget, the authors devote to minimise the loss, which is caused by the unsuccessfully intercepted missiles, through optimal power allocation (OPA) of MSRS within multiple stages. The design of OPA can be translated into a sequential decision-making problem. The authors formulate the problem through variable definition and modelling the missile interception procedure. As the authors need to consider the randomness of multiple coupled stages and jointly allocation power between multiple radar nodes, to solve the proposed problem is of huge computational load. The authors propose a solution that combines with reinforcement learning and particle swarm optimisation. Comparing with the uniform power allocation scheme, the simulation results demonstrate that the OPA scheme designed by the proposed method is capable to achieve preferable and more stable performance for the whole missile interception. The authors' contributions include a novel optimisation resource management model for a multi-stage stochastic task and an effective solution for the optimal resource management scheme.

Deal Breakers or Speed Bumps? Missile Defenses and Russian-American Nuclear Arms Control

ABSTRACTMissile defenses have been bones of contention in past arms control negotiations as between the United States and Russia. The likelihood is that ballistic missile defenses (BMD) for protection of the U.S. homeland or for the defense of regional allies in Europe and elsewhere will be of greater interest in view of their maturing technologies and emerging regional threats. On the other hand, the deployment of next generation missile defenses is not an isolated issue. From the standpoint of nuclear deterrence, missile defenses are embedded within a larger framework of emerging technologies, including those for conventional prompt global strike, for cyber warfare, and for the modernization of offensive strategic nuclear forces.

Taming cyber warfare: lessons from preventive arms control

ABSTRACTPreventive arms control, narrowly defined, is about restrictions on weapons development. From this traditional understanding follows that cyber warfare will be hard, if not impossible, to regulate. In this article, we start from a less circumscribed definition of preventive arms control that would also encompass limitations on the use of emerging technological capacities, both formal and informal. Based upon a comparison with the historical case of Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) arms control, we offer a fresh look into the prospects of taming cyber warfare via arms control measures and similar forms of security cooperation. The case of the ABM Treaty is instructive because it shows that neither definitional vagueness nor unequal relative gains proved to be insurmountable obstacles for cooperation. Rather, the transformation of strategic interests through complex learning was key to the achievement of the ABM Treaty. Recent developments in cybersecurity negotiations show that similar learning processes are underway. This is not to say that definitional and verification problems can be solved easily and that a treaty prohibiting cyber weapons is possible. But there is reason to believe that complex learning can transform perceived interest, just like it did during the Cold War, and that international norms against certain cyberattacks can be established.

Некоторые актуальные вопросы правового обеспечения исследования и использования космоса

Introduction. The problem of the backlog of the normative and legal bases in the field of international space law is widely discussed by Russian and foreign international lawyers. The most vital problem is the non-militarization of space, taking into consideration the lack of bilateral and multilateral banning treaties in this field. The realization of the American program for a missile defense in space forces Russia to react. However, the further participation in the nuclear arms race contradicts our national interests. No less dangerous than space weaponization is the stubborn desire of some states to create benefits for the national private users of outer space. The lack of the effective bans in this field leads to undermining of the regime of the agreements in force on the exploration and use of outer space. The current task is to save the positive provisions of the space agreements as well as to ensure the equal rights for all states in their space activities. Materials and methods . Materials used for the analysis include legal works of Russian and foreign researches in the field of international space law and international relations as well as multinational treaties in the sphere of space law, bilateral treaties in the sphere of disarmament, national acts in the sphere of the commercial use of outer space. Methodological procedures of the research include general and specific scientific methods of enquiry (dialectical method, methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction, induction, comparative-legal and historical-legal methods). Research results . Today the main purpose is to bring the rules, concerning the use of outer space in accordance with the today’s requirements. The lag in the legal provisions of our national interests is unacceptable for Russia and will entail unpredictable consequences. Today the strategic potential of Russia is sufficient to overcome the US antiballistic missile system. However, the competition of defensive and offensive weapons always leads to further arms race. One of the most effective means to avoid it is the use of “soft power” in international relations in general and in international relations in the field of using outer space. The use of “soft power” means for example the participation in long- term mutually beneficial projects in space. Discussion and conclusions. According to the author the means to avoid the new round of the arms race in space are the use of “soft power” in international projects of the use of outer space and implementation of existing disarmament agreements. Confrontation is a blind alley: that was the main concept during the disarmament era. The common sense must prevail over momentary interests. This statement can also be applied to the attempts concerning the review of the existing agreements in the field of using of outer space. These agreements should be adapted but not cancelled.

Analysis of Infrared Radiation Characteristics and Penetration Measures of Warhead

Ballistic target recognition occupies a unique and important position in many application fields of target recognition because of its challenge and important position of ballistic missile defense in national security; recognition time of defense system becomes very limited because of ballistic missile high-speed flight; recognition distance of defense system is also due to stealth technology. The integrated application of active jamming and passive decoy greatly increases the difficulty of identification of defense system. Because of its special status and challenge, ballistic target recognition has attracted wide attention of researchers at home and abroad, making it one of the most important issues in infrared target recognition research at home and abroad. In this paper, the infrared characteristics of a ballistic missile warhead target/decoy are analyzed, and the corresponding penetration measures are put forward according to the analysis results.

Normalized Pseudo-Control for Solid Divert & Attitude Control System

Faster trajectory correction and control mechanisms are required to correct the radar handing-over error coupled with homing guidance demands for Missile Interceptors. Solid Divert and Attitude Control System (SDACS), which typically have a very low time constant, is one of the most efficient and accurate way to meet these demands. The SDACS has challenges both with respect to the Hot Gas Valve (HGV) technology as well as actuator requirements. The paper proposes a novel method to simplify the controller design and reduce actuator needs for the rotary hot gas valves based SDACS. The proposed method formalizes a linear Pseudo-control to track the lateral acceleration and attitude correction commands. The pseudo-control requirements are tracked through the HGV rotations. The paper further proposes the normalization of the pseudo-control to make the controller generic making it invariant of the valve size and relative dimensions of the HGV’s static & moving part. The paper also proposes a technique to reduce the number of actuators required for the full SDACS system by use of these near affine pseudo-controls.

Impact of Mode Decision Delay on Estimation Error in Continuous-Time Controlled System

For highly maneuvering target interception in terminal guidance, the maximal admissible mode decision delay (MAMDD) and the least required mode sojourn time (LRMST) are calculated in continuous-time controlled system. The lateral acceleration command of the evader is modeled as a jump-Markov process. Suppose that the mode switches are observable and the evader’s motion mode is correctly identified by a separate mode decision-maker with a fixed time delay, then the error model of the state estimation is derived. By limiting the state estimation error to a certain range, MAMDD and LRMST are calculated. The derivation is validated by a typical instance of tactical ballistic missile interception. The results in this paper provide a useful tool for guiding the design of the mode decision-maker and evaluating the performance of the logic-based integrated estimation and guidance system.

Doppelter Boden: Die SALT-Verhandlungen 1963–1979

<i>Doppelter Boden: Die SALT-Verhandlungen 1963–1979</i>

Access Denied: The Continuing Challenge to Environmental Sciences in the Trump Era

Access Denied: The Continuing Challenge to Environmental Sciences in the Trump Era

A Computing based Simulation Model for Missile Guidance in Planar Domain

This paper presents the design, development and implementation of a computing based simulation model for interceptor missile guidance for countering an anti-ship missile through a navigation law. It investigates the possibility of deriving, testing and implementing an efficient variation of the PN and RPN laws. A new guidance law [true combined proportional navigation (TCPN) guidance law] that combines the strengths of both the PN and RPN and has a superior capturability in a specified zone of interest is presented in this paper. The presented proportional navigation (PN) guidance law is modeled in a two dimensional planar engagement model and its performance is studied with respect to a varying navigation ratio (N) that is dependent on the ‘heading error (HE)’ and missile lead angle. The advantage of varying navigation ratio is: if N′ > 2, Vc > 0, Vm > 0, then the sign of navigation ratio is determined by cos (e + HE) and for cos (e + HE) ≥ 0 and N > 0, the formulation reduces to that of PN and for cos (e + HE) < 0 and N < 0, the formulation reduces to that of RPN. Hence, depending upon the values of cos (e + HE) the presented navigation guidance strategy is shuffled between the PN navigation ratio and the RPN navigation ratio. The theoretical framework of TCPN guidance law is implemented in two dimensional setting of parameters. An important feature of TCPN is the HE and the aim is to achieve lower values of the heading error in simulation. The presented results in this paper show the efficiency of simulation model and also establish that TCPN can be an accurate guidance strategy that has its own range of application and suitability.

Anti-Ballistic Missiles and the Liberal–Conservative Internationalist Divide in Cold War Canada, 1966–1970

ABSTRACTShortly following Canada's controversial adoption of nuclear weapon roles in NORAD and NATO in 1963, the focus of nuclear debates shifted to the potential impact on Canadian and international security of the construction of US anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems. This article expands the focus of scholarship on the ABM issue from the political and policy-making settings to include members of the attentive elite and the news media, and finds these groups deeply divided between liberal and conservative internationalists. On the one hand, supporters of liberal internationalism believed that AMB systems would destabilise the international security environment and ultimately increase the likelihood of nuclear war. Conservative internationalists took the opposite position, arguing that the systems represented a necessary addition to the Western nuclear deterrent and would make nuclear war less likely. In other words, the ABM debate exposed deep divisions in Canadian society between those who preferred diplomatic and multilateral versus military means of achieving middle power goals in the international system.

Necessary Conditions for “Hit-to-Kill” in Missile Interception Engagements

The endgame of a linearized endoatmospheric interception scenario between an evading target and a pursuing missile is considered, in which the adversaries are aerodynamically steered and their controls are bounded and have arbitrary-order dynamics. The common near head-on or tail-chase assumption is relaxed and a new condition by which the dimension of the kinematics may be reduced is obtained. Assuming perfect information, the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a “hit-to-kill” capture zone is presented. The existence of such a capture zone is a necessary condition for guaranteeing point capture against any target maneuver. The condition is expressed as a function of the adversaries’ arbitrary control dynamics, and explicit conditions are derived for several previously studied cases, complimenting known results.