Robert Hummel, PhD
Chief Scientist,
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
Introduction
Missiles are flying over the Middle East and Europe, of many different types and with both offensive and defensive purposes. At one time, the US assumed that the only danger to the continental US was from intercontinental ballistic missiles, most likely nuclear-tipped. Thus, was born concepts of strategic nuclear defense based on mutually assured destruction; at the same time, there was continuously a search for an alternative. The Strategic Defense Initiative (the “Star Wars Program”) of the 1980s was a program seeking to render nuclear weapons “impotent.” But now, new missile and strike technologies have brought new threats. They include stealth bombers and missiles, commercial assets turned into weapons, maneuverable hypersonic boost glide weapons that can carry conventional or nuclear weapons, and killer preplaced drones. It is time to re-examine the elements of missile defense.
While the “Golden Dome” program will play an important part in the development of new elements of US national missile defense, it is not likely to replace existing defense elements nor to provide the sole means of missile defense. This article is not about Golden Dome, an architecture for Golden Dome, nor the technologies that need to be developed for Golden Dome. Instead, this article calls for using ongoing developments to strengthen the nation’s deterrence posture. Those developments need to be accelerated, reinvigorated, and managed with greater urgency. The result would not only save investment dollars, but it could deter a costly war, either in the homeland or elsewhere. The defense of the US must continue to involve a strong deterrent capability.