Emerging Technologies In Missile Defense

America, once the leader in missile defense, has been lagging in recent years. As the military seeks to replace the 30-year old Patriot system, it keeps encountering budgetary and political roadblocks which prevent the adoption of a new alternative. President Obama who has publicly stated “I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems,” willingly removed ground-based interceptor (GBI) missiles in Eastern Europe and then continued to work with the Senate to ratify a new START treaty, limiting America’s defenses.

Yet the threats are as real as ever. Iran inches closer daily to completion of a nuclear weapon. North Korea already possesses the capabilities, detonating a nuclear device in 2009, and actively working to increase its delivery capabilities through frequent missile tests.

Even in a time of fiscal tightening, Washington must continue to make the investments necessary to keep our country safe from nuclear attack. Through a combination of upgrading existing missile defense technologies and funding R&D for emerging ones, a feasible and effective means of protecting the homeland can be established.

America’s modern missile defense has gone through several iterations since its inception after World War II. Project Defender, and the Sentinel and the Safeguard programs all relied on high altitude nuclear detonations to intercept Soviet ICBMs, but the possibility of nuclear fallout over friendly territories made them ultimately unfeasible for widespread usage. In the 1980s, two new missile defense technologies emerged with greater promise for widespread usage. The first is hit to kill technology, where a defensive missile directly collides with and offensive one to render it harmless. This came to be known Patriot Missile. Reliable but aging it has been America’s main missile defense for the past 30 years. The second, laser technology, was the cornerstone of the Strategic Defensive Initiative (SDI). This technology which arguably contributed significantly to the fall of the Soviet Union through the SDI, is still being improved through a number of projects today.

The Airborne Laser Program, formerly the Airborne Laser Laboratory is one of the prominent programs in this field of lasers for missile defense. Led by Boeing, the program also incorporates efforts from Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The system essentially uses an airplane mounted electrical laser to shoot down enemy tactical and intercontinental missiles. As the technology develops further and is miniaturized it could eventually be mounted on boats and unmanned aircraft as well. Additionally, another technology that came out of the program, adaptive optics technologies, accounts for atmospheric distortion allowing for greater accuracy.

Mike Rinn, a former Navy F-14 pilot, is now the Directed Energy Systems Vice-President for the Boeing Company. He runs their Albuquerque, NM laboratory and recently spoke about the platform on Secure Freedom Radio. Speaking to the capabilities of the system he remarked:

When you look at the threats, especially the short-range and intermediate threats that are proliferating, if you can kill them in the early boosting stage over the enemy’s territory, there’s a huge advantage to do that. You can kill them before potentially counter-measures could be implemented, which makes the problem much harder. You can reach out at the speed of light with these kinds of future directed energy systems like the ABL. And actually destroy them. If you can see them, which you can when they break the clouds, cause they go very high, then you can destroy them at the speed of light.

As current missile defense systems age, new technologies like the Airborne Laser Program will take their place. Ronald Reagan, when confronting the Soviet Union recognized the importance of emerging technologies to defend the homeland. In order to keep America safe, it is important to maintain defenses that are current and effective, while also keeping one eye towards future military developments.