Essay on Should the U.S. build a National Missile Defense System?

The impact made by ADA forces spanned over many countries, the main ones being Germany, Israel, Turkey and Iraq. Using their newest developed missiles, Patriot Antitactical ballistic missile Capability, phase 1 (PAC-1) and Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), the Iraqi army had nothing as a comparable counterpart (Burr, 2001). These missiles were 17 feet, 5 inches in length, had a warhead with 221 pounds of high explosive, and could fly at Mach 3 up to 78,000 feet in altitude with a range of 43 miles (Leyden, 1997). The radar, control station, and launchers were all connected via computer, activating when a launch was detected and the “highest probability of a kill [was] obtained” (Burr, 2001). The newer PAC-2 missiles were capable of self-guidance with track-via-missile software and were more effective than their PAC-1

The Avenger is capable of eliminating the same threats as the Stinger missile system. The Counter, Rocket, Artillery, Mortar system, also referred to as the CRAM, is a combination of a gun called Phalanx and a Sentinel Radar. A Sentinel Radar for spotting incoming rockets and mortars. The Phalanx and Sentinel work together to eliminate rocket and mortar threats.

Air defense artillery (ADA) units date back to the dawn of this country's history when the colonists erected fortifications and emplaced artillery pieces to defend against attack from the sea. Little did they know, this new innovative way of combat would evolve and change the front lines forever. Through World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, air defense artillery units served as an indispensable part of the armed forces of the United States. It gave the Army a tactical advantage and allowed ground troops to move more efficiently, by protecting them from above. The Air Defense Artillery branch of the US Army specializes in anti-aircraft weapons. In the Army, these groups are composed of many air defense systems such as the Patriot Missile System, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and the Avenger Air Defense system.

It influenced future generations of soldiers and equipment to advance both tactically and technically, greatly increasing the multi-role diversity and capabilities of the Air Defense Artillery systems of today’s United States Army. Compared to the Patriot Launcher Missile system, it showed that Air Defense units could be multifaceted. Like the M42 Duster (SPAAG), the Patriot system demonstrated excellent destruction ratio for aircraft but the system also worked well in defense of TBM’s (Tactical Ballistic

The missile system reduced Scud annoyance and effectiveness. Patriot’s mission to counteract air born threats was an overall success. This war was a major demonstration of U.S. air defense capability. Although every fire did not successfully destroy its target, it exemplified extraordinary accuracy. The Patriot world is continuously evolving. Modifications to the software has been made, and today’s system has multiple intercept mechanisms. PAC 2 in no longer the only source of air defense capability. The PAC 3, a more sophisticated missile defense system, has a more accurate interception rate. A growing technology, and it will continue to expand in the future, air defense is here to

Military forces deploy to vastly different environments across the globe. However, two of the most important discriminating factors which shape how operations are conducted are acceptance and protection of US forces by the local population. Operational environments are roughly sorted into two major categories. Permissive environments are locations where the host nation has control of its territory and supports US operations. Non-permissive environments refer to locations with hostile or uncertain local response. Although the weapon’s systems and sensors do not change from one location to the next, the environment surrounding a deployed Air Defense unit has a significant impact on how it is best operated. The Patriot and Avenger weapons systems clearly demonstrate the disparate considerations that must be taken for implementation of each asset when employed in a permissive and non-permissive environment respectively.

DSMAC snaps a picture of the target area and compares that data to a version in its own memory. The computer then gives the wings and tail fins a final adjustment and takes the warhead to its target.

The Patriot Advanced Capability 2 version acquired the capability to operate against other missiles, beyond just aircrafts, by the US armed forces through an improved fuse and warhead in comparison to the PAC-1 (Maital & Seshadri, 2012). Furthermore, the US Army made changes to not only the software of the PAC-2 missile but the radar system which guided it. These improvements gave the missiles the ability to intercept other missiles which was different than previous models. Interception in this case was not considered just the capability to knock a missile off course but to destroy them which was the objective of this product. Beyond physical attributes, it acquired them through the recognition that tactile ballistic missiles were all over Europe and increased threats, prompting improvements to occur (Maital & Seshadri, 2012).

Today, radar is one of the most prevalent equipment devices used in the military, especially on naval ships. Radar is so detrimental to the navy because it detects invisible or distant objects by means of reflected radio waves and is capable of locating them accurately in space . Using this method, radars are able to scan for and, or track targets that, again, are too far for the human eye to see. With the AN/SPQ-9B, a ship is able to do both; in fact it can track while scanning. The track while

During a heated debate in policy for two of his presidency , Reagan announced research program on Strategic Defense Initiative ( SDI ) “to find the advanced technologies such as lasers and missile warheads, high-energy defense against intercontinental ballistic missile sites” (“The Strategic” 32). Reagan’s idea, at that time, was to intercept and destroy the incoming ballistic missiles far away from his country. Although many scientists have expressed doubts about the feasibility of SDI technology and the economy have shown the enormous costs , but the government continues to implement this project . The Strategic Defense Initiative was eventually abandoned, and after a few years, it was nothing but a short chapter in history books. The program was hopefully a new revolution in defense system which was told to be impenetrable. But under the political pressure, the Strategic Defense Initiative was slated for failure. The Strategic Defense Initiative was not solely a failure, it had an important meaning of Reagan. Reagan was feared that the US actually could not protect their soil from aggressive weapon which the two superpowers were racing for so many years. Reagan knew the USSR feared the same threat. The Strategic Defense Initiative made the Soviet

In 1968, the Soviet Union came up with a new development- the building of antiballistic missiles defence systems. These were to be used for nuclear, chemical, biological or even conventional warheads in the homeland defence of such a strike because they were designed to counter ICBM’s. As a method to counter this development, United States came up with multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles (MIRV’s) which improved the chances of avoiding detection by ABM systems. In addition to this, United States also developed its own IBM in order to match that of Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union’s ballistic missiles and long range bombers became a great threat to the United States of America, after tensions between the two intensified, following World War II. The US was afraid that the Soviet Union would attack and there would be no war fighting equipment available to intercept the threat. (Nike, n.d) The North American Air Defense Command developed the Nike Ajax, which stood as a high-altitude defense system. It was the last line of air defense, which was beneficial because it extended America’s level of protection. As time passed, there was a need for a more powerful, faster and bigger missile. As a result, the US created the new and improved Nike Hercules missile, which began replacing the Nike Ajax missiles. (Bender, 2004) The evolution of the first surfaced-to-air missiles during the Pre Cold War era played a critical part in safety and protection of the United States of America and its’ allies.

Located under the main gun is the work horse of all the components. It integrates the commander's independent thermal viewer into the FCS, it also provides communication between the gun/turret drive and gunners primary sight in normal mode. The IFCEU converts the GPS gunners primary sight switches analog to digital data transmits on the 1553B data bus to the iTMPU improved turret mission processor for the use of ballistic solutions. The IFCEU also determines if the tank is able to fire the main gun by checking if super elevation/ lead angle offsets are correct, gun/sight error is greater than 0.25 mils in AZ/EZ. The iFCEU also prevents the gun from firing in selected modes; which are bore sight, zero, MRS, and Diagnostic Test

The F-35 JSF will be an excellent addition to the current fleet of conventional fighters. However, it is not worth the current investment to replace the entire fleet with fifth gen aircraft. As seen with the F-22 oxygen system failures in 2011, a simple problem has the capability to ground an entire fleet of aircraft.9 In the case of the F-35, a grounding problem at operational volume has the potential to ground the Air Force’s entire fleet of fighter aircraft, essentially leaving the United States powerless in the air. Leaders are taught to always have backup plans if one should fail, the United States is placing all hopes into one multi-purpose airframe. Although cheap, the F-35 is a jack of all trades, but a master of

The Air Force wanted to draft a statement to make antisatellite weapons a necessity as part of defending the United States and their allies. Anti satellites can take high resolution images, watch for any signs of a bomber or missile attack and make measurements and send out signals that make it possible to determine the position of an aircraft, submarine, or a ship. Depending on the type of antisatellite, the range of orbit may vary between 150 kilometers to 36,000 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Jeff Hecht describes the vulnerability of anti satellites and how these disadvantages are extremely unattractive to military planners. Sensitive detectors and sensors cause major problems when the enemy attacks and either disable and/or destroy