Assurance, deterrence and protection are the end results and the return on investment that the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea want from their own defenses, and an integrated ballistic missile defense system designed to counter North Korea. All three results require a visible presence of operational, forward deployed missile defense systems and capabilities that are persistent in the Asia region and in each of the three allied countries. All three desired results require the President of the United States to actively reassure Japan and the ROK that the United States will defend them, and for the United States to deter North Korea’s leadership from launching a ballistic missile strike upon any of the three allied nations. All three end products require regular and constant testing, exercises, and demonstrations of successful tracking, discrimination and intercepts by each of the missile defense systems deployed by the Allies, as well as, the development of future missile defense systems that will continually outpace and deter North Korea’s capabilities.
U.S. assurances to Japan and the Republic of Korea that neither country needs to become a nuclear weapons state to defend itself from North Korea and its proliferating nuclear arsenal is at the heart of the visible presence of forward deployed American missile defense systems. In order to guarantee this assurance to Japan and the Republic of Korea, the United States has to have the ability to defend its own homeland and territories from North Korea’s nuclear ballistic missiles.
What adds up for the best interests of our nation’s national security and to provide national security assurances to Japan and the Republic of Korea is an increase in U.S. missile defense systems forward deployed in the Asia Pacific region, an increase in missile defense testing and joint-exercises with Japan and the ROK, and the development of future missile defense systems that stay ahead of North Korea’s offensive ballistic missile technology.
INCREASING U.S. PRESENCE FORWARD-
- U.S. THAAD Battery in the ROK
- U.S. THAAD Battery in Okinawa
- Additional U.S. THAAD Battery in Guam
- U.S. Army ADA Brigade in Guam
- U.S. Aegis Baseline 9 BMD Ships in the Pacific
- Two Aegis Ashore Sites in Japan
INCREASING U.S. HOMELAND DEFENSE-
- Development, testing and deployment of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle and the Multiple Object Kill Vehicle
- Increased Ground Based Interceptors deployed in California and increased overall GBI inventory
- Deployment of the Long Range Discrimination Radar
- Operationalize the Aegis Ashore Site in Hawaii
- Deployment of a long range discrimination and tracking radar in Hawaii
- Increased Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system capabilities
FUTURE U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE DEVELOPMENT-
- Persistent situational awareness through space-based sensor discrimination and tracking constellations
- UAV and air breathing platforms and systems for high altitude discrimination and tracking
- Air breathing platforms for directed energy for high altitude boost phase missile defenses
- Mobile Ground Based Interceptors
- Sea Based platforms for Rail Gun, directed energy and long range sensors
- Increase U.S. Army end strength in ADA
These things all add up and instead of cutting 500 million and only being at 1.3% of the total Defense Budget, the current, and our next President, should increase missile defense funding to be at 2 percent of the Department of Defense’s total budget.
Our current President, and the President who will enter office next year, have to address North Korea and provide concrete assurance to Japan and the Republic of Korea to make our nation and the world a safer place than it is today.
The President of the United States needs to add up and add on!
