Theater Ballistic Missile Defense

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the ballistic missiles used to employ them pose the greatest security challenge to the U.S. and her allies. In the past, active defense measures taken to combat the ballistic missile threat were concentrated on launch platform destruction or use of ground-based ballistic missile defense assets. In an era of declining overseas bases, limited strategic lift capability, and the Army and Air Force operating in an expeditionary role, naval forces will usually be the first units to respond to a crisis. Therefore, sea-based ballistic missile defense is a necessity. This paper provides an overview of the Navy's theater ballistic missile defense program. Specifially, it addresses the relationship between ballistic missiles and developing nations. It provides some background on the Joint Ballistic Missile Defense framework and the active defense programs being developed to support that framework. Most of the paper discusses the advantages of sea-based ballistic missile defense along with the Navy's two solutions to the ballistic missile threat, Navy Area Defense and Navy Theater-Wide Defense.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.