Saifullah Sani
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The US Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OUSD AT&L) held a classified Time Critical Targeting industry day at Scitor Corporation, Reston, Virginia, on 5 November, to discuss possible methods of defeating road-mobile ballistic missile threats of up to intercontinental range.
"Advances in mobile ballistic missile technology and the proliferation of them poses a growing threat to US, Allied, and partner forces and territory including the homeland" said a request for information (RfI) published by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on 29 October. "We must stay ahead of this threat, seeking to deter attacks or prevent them before they occur."
As a result, the Department of Defense is looking for: "systems to defeat a mobile ballistic missile threat, delaying, degrading and destroying the system, its logistics and command and control elements throughout the threat kill chain from fielding through launch including defeat of missiles in flight".
Each company that sent personnel to the industry day was allowed up to three delegates, who had to be security cleared at the TS, SI, and TK levels. These abbreviations refer to Top Secret, Special Intelligence, and Talent Keyhole. Special Intelligence is comint, while Talent Keyhole covers space-based imaging, sigint, and MASINT (Measurement and signature intelligence) systems.
Following a general briefing, the representatives of each company or team of prime contractors and associates had the chance to have 15-minute one-on-one sessions intended to clarify any specific questions that their company might have.
The formal announcement of the industry day did not identify specific countries and threat systems. However, the mobile missiles most likely to be of concern to the US are North Korea's Hwasong-13 (known to the West as the KN-08), and Iran's Sejjil 2 intermediate-range ballistic missile and its potential longer-ranged successors.
At a DoD briefing given on 24 October, General Curtis Scaparrotti, Commander, US Forces Korea, said: "I've got to assume they have the capabilities to put it [Hwasong-13] together. We've not seen it tested at this point. And as you know, for something that that's complex, without it being tested, the probability of it being effective is pretty darn low."
He saw the creation of a North Korean miniaturised nuclear warhead small enough to be carried by the missile as possible, saying: "I'm not saying that I know that by any factual basis, but I believe they probably have the background to do this." He noted that North Korea has: "proliferation relationships with other countries, Iran and Pakistan in particular".
COMMENT
It may be significant that in addition to the conventional missile-defence tactic of attempting to destroy an enemy missile in flight, the US is looking for ways of "delaying, degrading and destroying the system, its logistics and command and control elements throughout the threat kill chain from fielding through launch". This suggests that the use of US air power to hunt down future transporter-erector-launchers (TELs) and their associated command and control vehicles is being considered. Combat experience during the campaigns against Iraq's 'Scud' derivatives as shown that this is not a easy task.
US to study counters to road-mobile ICBMs - IHS Jane's 360
"Advances in mobile ballistic missile technology and the proliferation of them poses a growing threat to US, Allied, and partner forces and territory including the homeland" said a request for information (RfI) published by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on 29 October. "We must stay ahead of this threat, seeking to deter attacks or prevent them before they occur."
As a result, the Department of Defense is looking for: "systems to defeat a mobile ballistic missile threat, delaying, degrading and destroying the system, its logistics and command and control elements throughout the threat kill chain from fielding through launch including defeat of missiles in flight".
Each company that sent personnel to the industry day was allowed up to three delegates, who had to be security cleared at the TS, SI, and TK levels. These abbreviations refer to Top Secret, Special Intelligence, and Talent Keyhole. Special Intelligence is comint, while Talent Keyhole covers space-based imaging, sigint, and MASINT (Measurement and signature intelligence) systems.
Following a general briefing, the representatives of each company or team of prime contractors and associates had the chance to have 15-minute one-on-one sessions intended to clarify any specific questions that their company might have.
The formal announcement of the industry day did not identify specific countries and threat systems. However, the mobile missiles most likely to be of concern to the US are North Korea's Hwasong-13 (known to the West as the KN-08), and Iran's Sejjil 2 intermediate-range ballistic missile and its potential longer-ranged successors.
At a DoD briefing given on 24 October, General Curtis Scaparrotti, Commander, US Forces Korea, said: "I've got to assume they have the capabilities to put it [Hwasong-13] together. We've not seen it tested at this point. And as you know, for something that that's complex, without it being tested, the probability of it being effective is pretty darn low."
He saw the creation of a North Korean miniaturised nuclear warhead small enough to be carried by the missile as possible, saying: "I'm not saying that I know that by any factual basis, but I believe they probably have the background to do this." He noted that North Korea has: "proliferation relationships with other countries, Iran and Pakistan in particular".
COMMENT
It may be significant that in addition to the conventional missile-defence tactic of attempting to destroy an enemy missile in flight, the US is looking for ways of "delaying, degrading and destroying the system, its logistics and command and control elements throughout the threat kill chain from fielding through launch". This suggests that the use of US air power to hunt down future transporter-erector-launchers (TELs) and their associated command and control vehicles is being considered. Combat experience during the campaigns against Iraq's 'Scud' derivatives as shown that this is not a easy task.
US to study counters to road-mobile ICBMs - IHS Jane's 360
