Dear Members and Friends,
The Four Star United States Military Commander that is in charge of defending the air space of the United States of America and its 300 million people is Admiral William Gortney, head of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. In Congressional testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) yesterday, Admiral Gortney notably made two statements of merit.
“We’re going to need more capability to engage the threat throughout its flight, keep them on the ground, kill them on the (launch) rails, kill them in boost phase and then get more warheads in space in mid-course,”
“It is “prudent” to assume North Korea had the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon and put it on an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the United States.”
In his written statement, Admiral Gortney described in more detail the danger posed by North Korea, the threat of cruise missiles, and future missile defense technologies.
“We assess Kim Jong Un is unlikely to attack our Homeland unless he perceives an imminent threat to his regime’s survival. However, we are concerned the possession of a nuclear ICBM could embolden the regime’s intransigence below the nuclear threshold and complicate our response to a crisis on the peninsula. While I do not believe that North Korea’s efforts to develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile represent a near-term threat to the U.S. Homeland, the program underscores the level of effort and resources the regime is willing to devote to developing advanced weapon systems. As the combatant commander charged with defending the homeland, I take this threat very seriously, particularly in light of North Korea’s unpredictable leadership.”
“In addition to the proliferation of ballistic missile threats, I am deeply troubled by the development of advanced long-range cruise missiles and the growing threat they represent to North America. Russia possesses both conventional and nuclear cruise missiles with the range to reach North America and it has proliferated some advanced cruise missile technologies to other actors. This threat is real and it is imperative that we develop effective response options to outpace the threat and enhance our deterrence.”
“I believe that homeland defense is fundamentally an “away game”, and missile defense is no exception. Today’s GMD system is designed to intercept incoming threats after the launch is initiated. While that approach offers us sufficient decision space, we need to augment our defensive posture with one that is designed to defeat ballistic missile threats in the boost phase as well as before they are launched, known as “left of launch.” In concert with our public and private stakeholders, MDA is working on an emerging technology that will enable us to employ non-kinetic methods to defeat ballistic missile threats when we receive indications that a launch is imminent. I believe this technology will reduce the overall cost of engagement-based missile defense and provide us options to defeat ballistic missiles that continue to proliferate around the world.”
