GMD system is top US missile defence priority, but cruise missiles ascend

[Zarvan]

Improving the GMD system is the Pentagon's top missile defence priority, but officials are now increasing efforts for boosting cruise missile defence as well. Source: MDA
Key Points

• The GMD system is the US' highest missile defence priority
• Cruise missile defence, specifically for Washington, is a rising concern

The Pentagon is honing its missile defence priorities and protecting the homeland with the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system is to have precedence, with cruise missile defence efforts for the capital region beginning to garner more attention.

US Department of Defense's (DoD's) top national security interest is the country's survival and a high-end nuclear attack is the top 'existential threat', but missile defence against a large-scale nuclear attack is extraordinarily difficult and politically destabilising, so deterrence via mutually assured destruction is used instead.

The top priority for missile defence, therefore, is to address "catastrophic attacks" by either North Korea, which is closest in terms of potential capability, or perhaps eventually Iran, Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a 19 May speech.

Accordingly, the GMD system - designed specifically for a limited strike from North Korea or Iran - will remain the top programme and receive "the highest priority within the missile defence [budget]", he said.

Notably, Adm Winnefeld added that cruise missile defence is now receiving a significant amount of attention at the DoD because officials believe an initial assault on the United States would likely seek to take away decision time and debilitate decision makers in and around Washington, DC.

For example, cruise missiles could be employed in a surprise attack against the US National Capital Region (NCR), where many top government personnel reside and work, just prior to an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, because it is harder to detect and react to cruise missiles.

To this end, the DoD has been exploring improvements to the NCR's defences, and Adm Winnefeld cited work on the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS), which recently began a three-year review by the US Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. A JLENS system, or orbit, consists of two tethered aerostats: one with low-band VHF radar for surveillance and the other equipped with X-band radar for fire control.

Upgrades to the NCR's defence systems and technologies to counter cruise missiles could eventually extend to other "important areas" of the country, Adm Winnefeld said, noting that such expansion is probably too expensive in the near term.

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GMD system is top US missile defence priority, but cruise missiles ascend - IHS Jane's 360