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I
Missile Defence Interceptor
Missile Defence
 
 
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What is Missile Defence?

Missile defence (often referred to as Star Wars) is a military project that aims to intercept and destroy missiles by shooting them down before they hit their target. The system being developed by the US aims to intercept missiles targeted at the US mainland, and in later stages of development, possibly their allies too.

President Bush's current plans involve land, sea, air, and space-based sensors, radars and missile systems, designed to detect, track and destroy hostile missiles.

How would it work?

Missile launches would be detected by US early warning satellites using infra-red sensors. The initial trajectory of the missile would be tracked from space and the information relayed to a missile defence command centre in the United States.

Information concerning missile launches from the Middle East, Eastern Europe and elsewhere would be relayed via RAF Menwith Hill in Yorkshire.

A network of ground based early warning radars would track the missile in the middle and late stages of its flight and feed information back to the Command Center. The radars are located in Massachusetts, California, Alaska, Greenland and RAF Fylingdales in Yorkshire.

A point of interception would be calculated and interceptor rockets launched. Once close to the incoming missile, the interceptor rockets would launch "kill vehicles" to seek the incoming missile and destroy it. Although there are no current plans, interceptor rockets may be based in the UK in future. Other interception techniques being considered and developed include lasers on adapted Boeing 747s and space based lasers on satellites.

For interactive guides to missile defence, visit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/flash/0,7365,434805,00.html, or http://www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/bmdolink.html

Initial US plans

In December 2002, the US announced initial plans for a limited missile defence system including:
  • Early warning detection satellites and radar to detect missiles shortly after launch and to track their trajectories (one of these radars will be at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire).


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  • A command centre, which would have advanced radars theoretically capable of distinguishing between a warhead and a decoy. This information would then be relayed to interceptor sites.
  • Interceptor sites with the capability to launch interceptor missiles, could attack the incoming missiles while they are outside the world's atmosphere. These interceptors would carry a number of small "kill vehicles" that would be fired from the tip of the interceptor missiles and should theoretically make a direct hit on the incoming missile.
The Pentagon plans initially to install up to 20 ground-based interceptor missiles at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California by 2004-05. These are intended to intercept any potential missile attack from the Asia-Pacific region, for example North Korea.

Up to 20 sea-based interceptors will also be deployed on board Aegis destroyers, along with possible airborne and space based laser weapons and a network of sensors, satellites, ground-based radars, and communications systems of which Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in Britain are part.

Research and development for a more extensive Star Wars system is underway. British arms companies are participating in US research programmes via a US-UK Government agreement dating back to 1985.

Technical challenges

The task of tracking, intercepting and destroying missiles is scientifically and technologically challenging and is extremely costly. The US is spending approximately $8-9 billion per annum on developing and building the system as a central plank of its military power.

It requires high precision, often likened to the capability to "hit a bullet with a bullet". To date, 14 out of 17 US interceptor tests have failed.


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