Your Pocket Guide to How U.S. Missile Defense Works
Two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors are launched, on September 10, 2013.
By Jonathan Masters Council on Foreign Relations Read bio
August 18, 2014
Here's everything you need to know about the missile systems the U.S. maintains for its first- and counter-strike capabilities. By Jonathan Masters
U.S. ballistic missile defense systems are designed to protect the U.S. homeland, deployed military forces, and allies from limited attacks. The Pentagon originally sought development of ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology to counter the Soviet nuclear threat during the Cold War, but its focus in the twenty-first century has shifted to defending against potential strikes from regional actors, particularly Iran and North Korea. Proponents of BMD stress its role in the projection of U.S. power and its value as a deterrent, while critics question its reliability and high costs. In recent years, some military analysts have said that the planned expansion of U.S-NATO missile defense systems in the former Soviet bloc has unnecessarily frayed relations with Moscow.
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/your-pocket-guide-how-us-missile-defense-works/91742/?oref=d-dontmiss
