Missile defence : An overview

At the present day, an unparalleled number of international actors, be it national governments or non-state groups, have acquired or are seeking to acquire both weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. Those means of delivery can be Ballistic Missiles that can bridge vast – even intercontinental – distances. The use of Ballistic Missiles with conventional warheads is also an evolving threat as witnessed by the Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile. The defence of land forces and vulnerable areas against short range threats such as rockets, artillery and mortars has also become an increasingly pressing issue, due to the involvement of Western forces in the operations in the Middle–East and Northern Africa. As sophisticated technologies continue to proliferate and the intentions of actors are uncertain, an increasingly complex threat environment emerges, which stresses the importance of Missile Defence. Missile Defence aims at prevention of the launch of missiles, destruction of missiles in flight and minimisation of the damage caused by missiles after impact. Due to the increasing proliferation of missiles, their increasing ranges and the possibility that they possess a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warhead, Missile Defence remains a topic high on the national and international defence agendas. This book has provided an overview of Missile Defence. It has described the missile threat in some detail, from general characteristics of Ballistic Missiles to their trajectories, warheads and countermeasures. Furthermore, the four pillars of Missile Defence have been presented: – Conventional Counter Force Operations, with the aim of preventing the launch of missiles; – Active Defence, with the aim of destroying the missiles in flight; – Passive Defence, with the aim of minimising the damage of the missiles after impact; – Battle Management, Command Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence and Early Warning, with the aim of supporting the first three pillars.