Introduction:
"I have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue state missile attacks.” President George W. Bush made these remarks after invoking Article 15 of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which gave Russia six months notice that the United States was withdrawing from the treaty. The decision was widely attacked by many prominent members of Congress and the academic community, such as Senator Levin, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. Much of the debate focused on whether or not the decision by the United States to pursue missile defense would upset the “balance of terror” and result in an “action-reaction” response from the Russian Federation. Now that the United States has deployed missile defense systems such as GMD and AEGIS, there is a new debate over the Multiple Kill Vehicle, and what effect the deployment of such as system would have on deterrence, the “balance of terror” and a possible action-reaction response. This analysis will examine the benefits and problems with the system focusing primarily on its implementation with the GMD system. . The GMD program involves interceptors in Alaska, California, and potential interceptors in Poland, however that site has run into multiple problems with the current administration, especially following the letter sent by the President to the Russians. Additionally, the vote in the in the Parliament in the Czech Republic on the radar installations has been postponed due to lack of support.
Why The MKV is needed:
A GAO report released in April 2007 stated that, “Missile defense is important because at least 25 countries now possess or are acquiring sophisticated missile technology that could be used to attack the United States, deployed troops, friends, and allies.” In order to defend against these threats, especially longer-range ballistic missile threats, the United States should continue to develop and deploy the MKV system for all of its missile defense programs.
With the recent missile test by North Korea, the need for the MKV will be put into context to defend against a potential North Korean strike on American interests in the Pacific and the West Coast. American interests will extend to allies such as Japan in the region. Numerous sources have argued that nations the missile shield is intended to defend against have missiles that are of pretty shoddy craftsmanship. For example, if North Korea possessed a missile capable of reaching New York City and launched it, the radar would not show a clear image on where the actual warhead was. The GMD system currently has only one kill vehicle per interceptor, and it would need to be determined quickly and effectively which inbound part is the actual warhead.
The problem compounds if you attempt to deter an opponent such as Russia. Russian missiles, like the RT-2UTTH - Topol-M SS-27, are designed with decoys and maneuverable warheads that make an interceptor missile with a single kill vehicle not much of a real threat to the missile. While certainly the stated purpose of the American missile defense shield is not to deter against a Russian attack, Russian exportation of missile technology should be a cause for concern.
The Russian government continues to deny any “significant” transfer of missile technology to Iran and that they have not violated their obligations under the Missile Technology Control Regime. The same Russian government does acknowledge however that Iran has attempted to acquire missile technology from them previously and that “some Russian individuals may have been involved in Iranian missile projects.” Given this, it does not seem illogical to assume that Iran could acquire technology to create decoys and maneuverable warheads with their missile program. By extension, it was reported that Iranian missile experts were present in North Korea to “help” with their recent missile test. If this report turns out to be accurate, it stands to reason that missile technology acquired by the Iranians from the Russians could end up the hands of the North Koreans.
With the current GMD system, the North Koreans would only need twenty-five to thirty missiles to overwhelm the entire system. Certainly this does not account for other missile defense systems, however the GMD is the main deterrent against an incoming ballistic missile. If the North Koreans are capable of putting a nuclear warhead on one of these missiles, and as mentioned by the head of the IAEA and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, North Korea has successfully miniaturized nuclear warheads so they can be used on medium-range missiles, then the implications for missile defense are great. If this is accurate, it is only a matter of time before they obtain a missile capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear warhead. If our shield is overwhelmed by a small number of missiles and we have no significant assurance that the warhead will even be the target the kill-vehicle hits, it should raise the alarm. A failure in this regard could mean the death of thousands of Americans and the complete destruction of a large city.
How does the MKV work:
The MKV program consists of two designs. The first one implements a hover technology and was designed by Lockheed Martin. The second, done by Raytheon, operates in essence like a football team, where all the kill-vehicles are controlled by a single interceptor, the quarterback, and it issues commands to the other kill-vehicles. Should the control kill-vehicle be destroyed or incapacitated, any other interceptor can then take over the “quarterback” position. This differs from the Lockheed version because in the Lockheed program the hover vehicle acts as the “quarterback” and fires interceptors from its hovering state, whereas the Raytheon program fires all interceptors at once and then controls them in fight. Since the main contract for the program has been taken away from Lockheed Martin and awarded to Raytheon, the bulk of this explanation will focus on the operations of the Raytheon MKV, known as the MKV-R.
The missile defense shield relies on an integrated system of sophisticated space-based, ground-based, and airborne sensors and instruments. These also include advanced radar images and tracking information, high-speed photographs and video, and radio signals from the target, to determine the success of the intercept. Such systems include the Space Tracking and Surveillance System, the Near-Field Infrared Experiment, Sea-Based X-Band Radar, and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor. The GMD system uses all of these aspects to ensure that it is able to destroy an incoming reentry vehicle.
If North Korea fired a missile at San Francisco, assuming they had the capability, the GMD would be the system to launch the intercept most likely. Immediately after launch, the missile would be tracked by the systems listed above, and an interceptor would be launched. The intercept would occur in space, to prevent whatever the warhead was carrying from reaching the United States. This is especially important if the warhead is of a nuclear, biological, or chemical nature.
The interceptor launches its single intercept vehicle, which has the capability to attempt to identify and determine which part of the incoming cluster is the actual warhead that needs to be destroyed. At the time of the intercept the kill-vehicle is traveling around 7,000 miles per hour and the incoming warhead is breaking speeds of 15,000 miles per hour, meaning that the speed at which the intercept occurs can break 16,000 miles per hour. The kill-vehicle does not carry an explosive to destroy the incoming warhead, but rather it uses kinetic energy to slam into the warhead in an attempt to destroy it. There have been multiple tests using this “hitting a bullet with a bullet” technology that have been a success.
Given this, the MKV-R will be applied to the current GMD system interceptors to conduct the important role of allowing all threats in an incoming cluster to be targeted at the same time. As stated by the Missile Defense Agency, an incoming missile threat will not involve the warhead only. It will include decoys, as well as debris from each stage of the missile, and possible debris simply from poor craftsmanship, which is not unthinkable when discussing a missile program in a nation like North Korea. The MKV allows for a legitimate counter to this threat because each interceptor will now be equipped with eight to twenty kill-vehicles to eliminate all threats in an incoming cluster.
"I have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue state missile attacks.” President George W. Bush made these remarks after invoking Article 15 of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which gave Russia six months notice that the United States was withdrawing from the treaty. The decision was widely attacked by many prominent members of Congress and the academic community, such as Senator Levin, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. Much of the debate focused on whether or not the decision by the United States to pursue missile defense would upset the “balance of terror” and result in an “action-reaction” response from the Russian Federation. Now that the United States has deployed missile defense systems such as GMD and AEGIS, there is a new debate over the Multiple Kill Vehicle, and what effect the deployment of such as system would have on deterrence, the “balance of terror” and a possible action-reaction response. This analysis will examine the benefits and problems with the system focusing primarily on its implementation with the GMD system. . The GMD program involves interceptors in Alaska, California, and potential interceptors in Poland, however that site has run into multiple problems with the current administration, especially following the letter sent by the President to the Russians. Additionally, the vote in the in the Parliament in the Czech Republic on the radar installations has been postponed due to lack of support.
Why The MKV is needed:
A GAO report released in April 2007 stated that, “Missile defense is important because at least 25 countries now possess or are acquiring sophisticated missile technology that could be used to attack the United States, deployed troops, friends, and allies.” In order to defend against these threats, especially longer-range ballistic missile threats, the United States should continue to develop and deploy the MKV system for all of its missile defense programs.
With the recent missile test by North Korea, the need for the MKV will be put into context to defend against a potential North Korean strike on American interests in the Pacific and the West Coast. American interests will extend to allies such as Japan in the region. Numerous sources have argued that nations the missile shield is intended to defend against have missiles that are of pretty shoddy craftsmanship. For example, if North Korea possessed a missile capable of reaching New York City and launched it, the radar would not show a clear image on where the actual warhead was. The GMD system currently has only one kill vehicle per interceptor, and it would need to be determined quickly and effectively which inbound part is the actual warhead.
The problem compounds if you attempt to deter an opponent such as Russia. Russian missiles, like the RT-2UTTH - Topol-M SS-27, are designed with decoys and maneuverable warheads that make an interceptor missile with a single kill vehicle not much of a real threat to the missile. While certainly the stated purpose of the American missile defense shield is not to deter against a Russian attack, Russian exportation of missile technology should be a cause for concern.
The Russian government continues to deny any “significant” transfer of missile technology to Iran and that they have not violated their obligations under the Missile Technology Control Regime. The same Russian government does acknowledge however that Iran has attempted to acquire missile technology from them previously and that “some Russian individuals may have been involved in Iranian missile projects.” Given this, it does not seem illogical to assume that Iran could acquire technology to create decoys and maneuverable warheads with their missile program. By extension, it was reported that Iranian missile experts were present in North Korea to “help” with their recent missile test. If this report turns out to be accurate, it stands to reason that missile technology acquired by the Iranians from the Russians could end up the hands of the North Koreans.
With the current GMD system, the North Koreans would only need twenty-five to thirty missiles to overwhelm the entire system. Certainly this does not account for other missile defense systems, however the GMD is the main deterrent against an incoming ballistic missile. If the North Koreans are capable of putting a nuclear warhead on one of these missiles, and as mentioned by the head of the IAEA and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, North Korea has successfully miniaturized nuclear warheads so they can be used on medium-range missiles, then the implications for missile defense are great. If this is accurate, it is only a matter of time before they obtain a missile capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear warhead. If our shield is overwhelmed by a small number of missiles and we have no significant assurance that the warhead will even be the target the kill-vehicle hits, it should raise the alarm. A failure in this regard could mean the death of thousands of Americans and the complete destruction of a large city.
How does the MKV work:
The MKV program consists of two designs. The first one implements a hover technology and was designed by Lockheed Martin. The second, done by Raytheon, operates in essence like a football team, where all the kill-vehicles are controlled by a single interceptor, the quarterback, and it issues commands to the other kill-vehicles. Should the control kill-vehicle be destroyed or incapacitated, any other interceptor can then take over the “quarterback” position. This differs from the Lockheed version because in the Lockheed program the hover vehicle acts as the “quarterback” and fires interceptors from its hovering state, whereas the Raytheon program fires all interceptors at once and then controls them in fight. Since the main contract for the program has been taken away from Lockheed Martin and awarded to Raytheon, the bulk of this explanation will focus on the operations of the Raytheon MKV, known as the MKV-R.
The missile defense shield relies on an integrated system of sophisticated space-based, ground-based, and airborne sensors and instruments. These also include advanced radar images and tracking information, high-speed photographs and video, and radio signals from the target, to determine the success of the intercept. Such systems include the Space Tracking and Surveillance System, the Near-Field Infrared Experiment, Sea-Based X-Band Radar, and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor. The GMD system uses all of these aspects to ensure that it is able to destroy an incoming reentry vehicle.
If North Korea fired a missile at San Francisco, assuming they had the capability, the GMD would be the system to launch the intercept most likely. Immediately after launch, the missile would be tracked by the systems listed above, and an interceptor would be launched. The intercept would occur in space, to prevent whatever the warhead was carrying from reaching the United States. This is especially important if the warhead is of a nuclear, biological, or chemical nature.
The interceptor launches its single intercept vehicle, which has the capability to attempt to identify and determine which part of the incoming cluster is the actual warhead that needs to be destroyed. At the time of the intercept the kill-vehicle is traveling around 7,000 miles per hour and the incoming warhead is breaking speeds of 15,000 miles per hour, meaning that the speed at which the intercept occurs can break 16,000 miles per hour. The kill-vehicle does not carry an explosive to destroy the incoming warhead, but rather it uses kinetic energy to slam into the warhead in an attempt to destroy it. There have been multiple tests using this “hitting a bullet with a bullet” technology that have been a success.
Given this, the MKV-R will be applied to the current GMD system interceptors to conduct the important role of allowing all threats in an incoming cluster to be targeted at the same time. As stated by the Missile Defense Agency, an incoming missile threat will not involve the warhead only. It will include decoys, as well as debris from each stage of the missile, and possible debris simply from poor craftsmanship, which is not unthinkable when discussing a missile program in a nation like North Korea. The MKV allows for a legitimate counter to this threat because each interceptor will now be equipped with eight to twenty kill-vehicles to eliminate all threats in an incoming cluster.
