Hill, CSIS Seek New Defenses For ‘A New Missile Age’ « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary: With new missile threats proliferating worldwide, both the House and Senate versions of the annual defense policy bill push new approaches to missile defense such as laser weapons and “boost phase” defenses that shoot down missiles just after launch.
That’s also why one of Washington’s foremost thinktanks has launched a new program on the problem. “I think a missile defense project is so exciting and so salient right now because, in a sense, we’re entering into a new missile age,” said Tom Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The ‘missile defense’ label captures something that people are used to, but it does reach out beyond the traditional definition.”
That traditional image was formed 24 years ago during the first Gulf War: The bad guy’s Scuds go up, our Patriots shoot them down. (The Patriot’s actual effectiveness in 1991 remains controversial). But Scuds are crude ballistic missiles, not far removed from the Nazi V-2. They fly in a predictable arc and land with little accuracy. Since then, ever more adversaries have acquired precision guidance — which makes any kind of missile much more dangerous — and/or cruise missiles — which are much slower, lower, and harder to detect.
