The Bush Administration made major changes to the Ballistic Missile Defense (MD) system and established a limited system in Alaska to counter threats from North Korea. But even with the new emphasis on anti-terrorism and closer relations with Russia, MD was still a very controversial topic as seen with the Bush proposal to install parts of the Missile Defense System in Europe for protection against Iran. The Bush European proposal had negative impacts on the US/Russia relations during the later years of the Bush Administration. The Obama administration tried to mend relations with Russia by modifying the system for Europe. It is now the Phased Adaptive System, but Russia still has concerns with this reduced system.
Missile Defense will continue to be a key technical and policy issue facing the U.S. and the rest of the world. The Bush Administration focused more on testing, developing new equipment for the MD system, and also investigating a wider variety of sensors (such as space-based and sea-based systems) to detect incoming missiles. The Obama Administration developed a phased adaptive approach to MD – develop advanced capabilities but install the new equipment only when the threat requires the new systems.
This invited lecture will provide background information on the policy issues facing Missile Defense. It will also provide technical information on the major systems developed by the Bush Administration for protection against North Korea. The talk will then provide system engineering details on the elements of the phased adaptive approach that was developed by the Obama Administration and are being installed in Europe. It will also cover implications and plans for the Middle East as shown in the current focus of the US Missile Defense Agency as shown below. Several videos will be used to explain these topics.
US Missile Defense Agency current focus:
- Limited homeland defense (against N. Korea and Iran).
- Regional defense with partners around the world to protect them and our soldiers ~ Japan, EU, and the Gulf region including Israel. Our enemies have 1000’s of missiles so regional partnership is required.
- Cruise missiles – new equipment such as JLENS, but currently can only protect a few major cities/areas. Could move up to #2 since this is such a big threat to the US homeland.
