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Dream deterred
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| Parent(s) |
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP May 11, 2012 05:46pm |
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| Category | Report |
| Author | Kennette Benedict |
| News Date | Wednesday, May 9, 2012 11:45:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The dream of a shield against nuclear bombs has been around since the earliest days of the nuclear age. The idea has always been deceptively simple: Build missiles that can shoot down nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as they come across the ocean from the Soviet Union toward the United States (or vice-versa). Although this would be the equivalent of trying to hit a bullet with a bullet or an arrow with an arrow, there have always been political and military leaders who feel sure it can be done. The most recent efforts began 27 years ago with the Strategic Defense Initiative of the Reagan administration -- and have been pursued by missile defense agencies ever since.
Independent scientists and engineers in the United States and Russia have consistently judged past efforts to be failures PDF, and they have written detailed reviews showing why the plans for such missile defenses are not technically feasible. Yet, in spite of these technical critiques and negative results, the US government has persisted in its claims of success. Until now.
A little-noticed report PDF released in September 2011 by the Defense Science Board, an independent advisory committee to the US Defense Department, found three major problems with the Early Intercept Ballistic Missile Defense now being developed. Apparently, (1) none of the necessary radars in the European Phased Adaptive Approach defense system are powerful enough to work, (2) none of the existing missile defense sensors can reliably distinguish among warheads, decoys, and other debris, and (3) US intelligence already has observed foreign ballistic missile launches that can deploy decoys and other countermeasures. So, after 27 years of development and $150 billion spent, there still is no effective missile shield -- it is still a dream.
From news of this report, we might conclude that the missile defense that we've all heard about for many years is now defunct. The system that Russia views as a threat to its security does not work, and, even if the problems could be remedied -- a big if -- the system would still not be operable for many years to come. |
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