Pursuit of the Shield The U.S. Quest for Limited Ballistic Missile Defense

by McMahon, K. Scott

• ISBN13: 9780761806875
• ISBN10: 0761806873
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-04-17
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

Since the 1960s, U.S. political leaders have engaged in a controversial debate regarding the deployment of a strategic ballistic missile defense (BMD) system to protect the American homeland. Using an analytic framework consisting of prerequisites for successful strategic weapon programs, this book assesses BMD proposals from the Cold War era (focusing primarily on the 1967 Sentinel proposal).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
About the Author
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Introduction and Description of the Analytical Framework	p. 1
Illustrative Application of the Analytical Framework: The U.S. Atomic Weapon and Strategic Defense Initiative Programs	p. 4
Meeting the Soviet Threat: The Defense Repulsed	p. 13
President Eisenhower's BMD Program	p. 13
Presidents Kennedy and Johnson's BMD Program	p. 16
Seeking a Compromise Candidate: The Defense Reoriented	p. 33
Sentinel Unveiled	p. 33
Sentinel Attacked: Threat, Technical, and Strategic Debates	p. 35
Conclusion: A Consensus Formed and Dissolved	p. 46
War in the Desert: The Defense Vindicated	p. 55
The Iraqi Threat 1990	p. 55
Desert Storm Lesson Learned: Iraqi Ballistic Missiles and the Strategic Campaign	p. 58
Scuds and Patriots: The Unsettled Debate	p. 59
Desert Storm Lesson Learned: Scuds, Patriots, and Future BMD Policies	p. 62
Desert Storm Lesson Learned: Missile Threats Require Multiple and Redundant Countermeasures	p. 63
Desert Storm Lesson Learned: Cost Effectiveness is Irrelevant to Limited BMD Systems	p. 74
Desert Storm Lesson Learned: Today's Friends, Tomorrow's Enemies	p. 75
Desert Storm Lessons Learned by Others	p. 77
Surge for the Shield: The Post-War Consensus for BMD	p. 93
President Bush's BMD Program	p. 93
The Missile Defense Act of 1991	p. 98
The Missile Defense Act: Strategic, Threat, and Technical Debates in the Senate	p. 101
The Kremlin Coup D'etat	p. 103
Surge for the Shield: The Kremlin Coup and the Missile Defense Act	p. 105
Surge for the Shield: The President's Nuclear Initiative	p. 108
Congressional Passage of the Missile Defense Act	p. 111
The Fragile Consensus - Again	p. 114
NBC Weapon and Ballistic Missile Proliferation: Threat and Response	p. 129
Strategic Proliferation and the Limits of Technology Denial	p. 129
Controlling Nuclear Weapon Proliferation	p. 130
Controlling Chemical and Biological Weapon Proliferation	p. 142
Controlling Tactical and Strategic Ballistic Missile Proliferation	p. 147
Disintegration of the USSR: Fuel on the Fire?	p. 155
The Non-Proliferation Regime: Additional Challenges and Systemic Problems	p. 157
Concluding Observations	p. 162
NBC Weapon Attack: Motivations and Operational Analysis	p. 183
NBC Weapon Attack: Motivations and Tactics	p. 183
NBC Weapon Attack: Delivery Systems and U.S. Defense Options	p. 193
Pursuit of the Shield: The Way Forward	p. 217
Future BMD Policies, Programs, and Deployments: Underlying Arguments and Assumptions That Drive Requirements	p. 217
Requirements Driving Future BMD Policies, Programs, and Deployments	p. 218
Future BMD Deployments and Programs	p. 222
Renegotiating the ABM Treaty - U.S. Objectives	p. 241
Renegotiating the ABM Treaty - Working With the Russians	p. 245
Renegotiating the ABM Treaty - Working With Other Former Soviet Republics	p. 266
BMD Deployments - Working With U.S. Allies and China	p. 267
Conclusion: A Future With Ballistic Missile Defenses	p. 275
Missile Defenses: A Desert Storm Lesson Learned	p. 297
Technical Status of BMD Systems and Components	p. 307
First-Strike Scenarios With BMD Deployments and START II Force Levels	p. 309
Selected World Ballistic Missile Systems and Programs	p. 315
Sources Consulted	p. 321
Index	p. 367
Tables
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